WEBVTT - Hour 3 – Pablo Torre, Brian Windhorst 0:00:00.710 --> 0:00:03.570 You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox 0:00:03.610 --> 0:00:04.529 Sports Radio. 0:00:04.750 --> 0:00:07.290 Final hour on this Thursday, Dan and the Danettes, Dan 0:00:07.330 --> 0:00:12.320 Patrick Show. Pulitzer Prize winner Pablo Torre. He will join 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:16.419 us coming up after the NBA dropped the hammer on 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:20.780 the Clippers yesterday. And is there more to come? Brian 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:23.040 Winhorst of the Mothership will stop by in the final 0:00:23.060 --> 0:00:26.100 hour of the program. Fritzie is here. We found out 0:00:26.120 --> 0:00:29.140 he has four stitches. He didn't realize he had four stitches, 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:32.850 but the bandage is off, and Todd is here. 0:00:33.530 --> 0:00:34.790 Full strength-ish. 0:00:34.950 --> 0:00:36.210 I don't like to look at that stuff. Even though 0:00:36.229 --> 0:00:38.130 I've been through far worse than a little finger surgery, 0:00:38.170 --> 0:00:40.130 it's just kind of gross seeing those black stitches. 0:00:40.490 --> 0:00:46.020 Dylan is here, Marvin, and Big Day Ray. 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:46.720 You're right. 0:00:46.820 --> 0:00:48.879 I was going to just ramble on endlessly about my stitches. 0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:50.319 No one needs to hear that. That's not why they're 0:00:50.340 --> 0:00:51.380 tuning into the Dan Patrick show. 0:00:53.409 --> 0:00:54.450 Continue introducing everyone. 0:00:54.530 --> 0:00:57.720 Big Day Ray is here because Paul is prepping for 0:00:57.760 --> 0:01:00.980 his show, the Not So Fast with Pabst and Perloff. 0:01:01.020 --> 0:01:03.480 That'll be after this show at noon Eastern on Peacock. 0:01:03.540 --> 0:01:05.820 Yes, Marvin. Yeah, this hour might be tough for you. 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:09.050 There's no Paulie and four guests Fritzie. 0:01:09.230 --> 0:01:09.730 Yeah. 0:01:10.630 --> 0:01:14.390 We already talked to Mike Tomlin, Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti. 0:01:14.860 --> 0:01:18.760 You got Brian Windhorst. You got Pablo Torre. And Todd 0:01:18.860 --> 0:01:21.680 is for guest Fritzie. Stat of the Day brought to 0:01:21.700 --> 0:01:24.050 you by Panini America, the official trading cards of the 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:28.030 Dan Patrick Show. Next Saturday, the Premier League has Hull 0:01:28.090 --> 0:01:31.410 City against Aston Villa. They kick it off at 1230 0:01:31.410 --> 0:01:34.009 Eastern on NBC and Peacock, which is where you can 0:01:34.050 --> 0:01:38.050 find this program. Or if you're listening on our over 0:01:38.050 --> 0:01:42.130 400 radio stations around America, we say good morning. A 0:01:42.150 --> 0:01:44.050 poll question for the final hour of the program is 0:01:44.069 --> 0:01:44.289 going to. 0:01:44.270 --> 0:01:45.430 Be what, Dylan? 0:01:47.290 --> 0:01:51.720 Well, what should Kawhi Leonard's punishment have been? We've obviously 0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:54.560 debated that. We have some options, Dan, if you'd like them. 0:01:54.780 --> 0:01:55.000 Okay. 0:01:55.900 --> 0:01:59.260 Find the approximate total amount he made off the books. 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:00.420 Okay. 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:05.910 Have to stay with the Clippers. Or, and I like 0:02:05.950 --> 0:02:08.630 this one, Marvin and I were in agreement, actually go 0:02:08.750 --> 0:02:11.290 plant the trees that he said he was planting. 0:02:11.310 --> 0:02:11.630 Okay. 0:02:12.230 --> 0:02:14.190 Which actually, they should just plant a tree instead of 0:02:14.210 --> 0:02:15.910 a statue for him outside the stadium. 0:02:16.070 --> 0:02:16.329 Yeah. 0:02:16.910 --> 0:02:18.810 I don't think he gets statue-worthy. 0:02:19.150 --> 0:02:19.690 Tree-worthy. 0:02:19.750 --> 0:02:20.880 He'll get one in Toronto. 0:02:21.410 --> 0:02:22.940 Yeah. 0:02:23.690 --> 0:02:27.920 Is the Raptors over-under? Did it change, Ray, after they 0:02:27.980 --> 0:02:30.700 made this, I guess, official? Now the punishment's over and 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:31.720 Kawhi can go to Toronto? 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:34.899 I think the sportsbooks have been expecting this, but their 0:02:34.940 --> 0:02:36.020 over-under this year is 45.5. 0:02:36.020 --> 0:02:36.200 Okay. 0:02:36.220 --> 0:02:42.250 What was it last year? I'm checking right now. 0:02:42.270 --> 0:02:42.810 Okay, yeah. 0:02:42.970 --> 0:02:47.650 I don't know how much this changed. Todd, is Pablo there? 0:02:47.669 --> 0:02:48.150 He sure is. 0:02:48.250 --> 0:02:48.790 All righty. 0:02:48.910 --> 0:02:54.410 Pablo Torre, journalist, podcaster, host of Pablo Torre Finds Out 0:02:54.450 --> 0:02:57.620 with Metal Ark Media. Well, you did find out, but 0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:01.320 I'm curious through all of this, any doubts along the 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:05.580 way of your reporting? If your ESPN comes out with 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:10.040 an article recently, hearing from the Clippers, hearing from other people, 0:03:10.830 --> 0:03:14.149 Any doubts? Any conversations with the wife at night of, uh-oh? 0:03:16.419 --> 0:03:19.639 The doubts were, hey, we're still going to be married 0:03:19.980 --> 0:03:21.880 at the end of this, right? Because you're on the 0:03:21.940 --> 0:03:24.540 phone talking to sources all of the time that you 0:03:24.580 --> 0:03:26.760 say are very important. And we're at the beach with 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:30.530 our daughter on your quote-unquote vacation. That was the doubt. 0:03:31.610 --> 0:03:35.510 But In truth, those sources were right the whole time, Dan. 0:03:35.690 --> 0:03:38.220 The thing that was interesting yesterday, and many things were 0:03:38.280 --> 0:03:40.910 interesting yesterday, was just what the NBA would do about it. 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:44.150 And that's what we found out, is what does the 0:03:44.230 --> 0:03:47.310 internal politics of league governance look like when you have 0:03:47.330 --> 0:03:50.530 a scope that leads to a rabbit hole that has 0:03:50.650 --> 0:03:55.110 four separate companies in it, manufactured paper trails, fake jobs, 0:03:55.150 --> 0:03:58.430 not just for Kawhi Leonard, but for the companies, like 0:03:58.630 --> 0:04:02.910 fake consulting jobs for the companies that funneled money to 0:04:02.950 --> 0:04:06.450 Kawhi Leonard through the Clippers, as well as those companies. 0:04:07.450 --> 0:04:11.460 And you have now, as of yesterday, an SEC, Securities 0:04:11.500 --> 0:04:16.020 and Exchange Commission, not Southeastern Conference, SEC investigation into the 0:04:16.060 --> 0:04:20.400 scoreboard company that, according to the NBA, got the deal 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:24.940 to build the Halo board in Intuitome because they were 0:04:24.980 --> 0:04:27.080 willing to funnel money to Kawhi Leonard. 0:04:27.820 --> 0:04:31.210 That's what the NBA could not deny. What did you 0:04:31.250 --> 0:04:35.130 make of the punishments? I thought that it could have 0:04:35.150 --> 0:04:39.589 been more. And I think that it is two things. 0:04:39.980 --> 0:04:42.620 The biggest punishment for an owner that we've ever seen 0:04:42.660 --> 0:04:45.720 in American sports, I think, when you account for the 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:47.620 fact that it is Steve Ballmer banned from the building 0:04:47.660 --> 0:04:50.640 for a year, his head of business banned from the 0:04:50.660 --> 0:04:54.080 building for a year, his head of basketball banned... from 0:04:54.100 --> 0:04:57.700 the building for six months because Lawrence Frank, that basketball 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:02.580 ops president, participated and provided contemporaneous notes to the NBA, 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:04.920 by the way, a whole other rabbit hole of like, 0:05:05.020 --> 0:05:08.500 why was Lawrence Frank taking notes during the cap circumvention 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:11.210 meetings in which he is quoting the thanks to the 0:05:11.290 --> 0:05:15.770 NBA's investigators, Steve Ballmer talking about how he's going to 0:05:15.910 --> 0:05:20.510 service Dennis Robertson and Kawhi Leonard to circumvent the cap. 0:05:20.980 --> 0:05:25.200 Why was that there? Interesting. $ 30 million is. 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:28.740 Change to a guy with $ 145 billion, depending on Microsoft stock. 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:33.490 But the thing about The scope and the vastness of it, 0:05:33.750 --> 0:05:36.610 the five first-rounders, I mean, I just, I think it 0:05:36.650 --> 0:05:40.700 was unprecedented in that regard, but also because it was 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:44.160 narrow in scope. There are names in this report that 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:46.460 we have been talking about for a year that did 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:49.500 not show up. There is a line that Wachtell Lipton, 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:52.790 the law firm, put in. Their investigation is ongoing. They 0:05:52.830 --> 0:05:57.340 are still receiving tips. As recently as Just weeks ago, 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:01.600 they are still investigating. It's only the beginning somehow, which 0:06:01.700 --> 0:06:03.520 is kind of the through line of the whole thing. 0:06:04.740 --> 0:06:05.060 Okay. 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:07.870 Can you give me best guess of what you think 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:10.349 could be next involving the Clippers? 0:06:11.330 --> 0:06:14.610 Well, let's just take Steve Ballmer at his word. He 0:06:14.650 --> 0:06:18.750 has written a letter via his very expensive attorneys to 0:06:18.830 --> 0:06:23.549 Adam Silver blaming Clippers. this podcaster for getting the NBA 0:06:23.890 --> 0:06:27.070 to do a prejudiced investigation. And at first, after the 0:06:27.089 --> 0:06:29.860 ruling came out, he threatened arbitration. But this is something 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:31.740 that's very interesting that I don't know if people appreciate 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:34.300 about what the NBA did. When the NBA tried to 0:06:34.380 --> 0:06:37.440 settle with Steve Ballmer and they said, hey, we have 0:06:37.460 --> 0:06:40.490 a narrow scope. We have undeniable evidence. We want to 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:43.070 just make sure that you have the opportunity to take 0:06:43.089 --> 0:06:46.040 your punishment, admit wrongdoing and let us all move on. 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:48.799 Steve Ballmer, according to everything that we've. 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:51.080 Seen now play out in public after that ESPN story 0:06:51.110 --> 0:06:54.510 two weeks ago, decided to fight, decided to mount his 0:06:54.550 --> 0:06:57.530 own campaign. And the NBA said, well, in that case, 0:06:58.150 --> 0:07:00.369 we're going to do something that perhaps caught Steve Ballmer 0:07:00.390 --> 0:07:04.710 by surprise. They found a way to settle with Kawhi 0:07:04.750 --> 0:07:08.230 Leonard and the Players Union. Why is that important? When 0:07:08.250 --> 0:07:10.110 Kawhi gets a slap on the wrist, that's where the 0:07:10.130 --> 0:07:15.690 slap on the wrist was, Dan, by the way. $ 700, 000. 0:07:12.810 --> 0:07:16.470 For Kawhi Leonard. Again, historically, that's quite a bit. 0:07:16.570 --> 0:07:18.390 But in terms of the role he had in the 0:07:18.430 --> 0:07:20.670 whole story, that's a slap on the wrist. He can 0:07:20.710 --> 0:07:23.270 now go on to Toronto and the betting lines can 0:07:23.330 --> 0:07:26.410 adjust based on that. If Toronto wants to go through 0:07:26.430 --> 0:07:28.130 with this, not knowing what else is in the box. 0:07:28.790 --> 0:07:29.270 I digress. 0:07:30.070 --> 0:07:32.210 They got Kawhi to settle. 0:07:32.950 --> 0:07:35.850 And in the NBA, what Adam Silver knows better than 0:07:35.910 --> 0:07:39.330 Steve Ballmer and his lawyers know apparently is that arbitration 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:42.580 can only be activated by the union. And so arbitration, 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:46.700 because of that settlement, is off the table. Can't go 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:50.980 to arbitration. What can Steve Ballmer do? He can literally 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:52.580 sue the NBA. 0:07:53.060 --> 0:07:55.140 He can sue Adam Silver. He can sue me. He 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:57.160 can sue Wachtell Lipton. He can sue you. He can 0:07:57.180 --> 0:07:57.720 sue everybody. 0:07:58.580 --> 0:08:02.700 And that opens the door to, spoiler alert, more discovery 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:03.260 of documents. 0:08:06.930 --> 0:08:10.730 Could he have mitigated, like how much damage could he 0:08:10.750 --> 0:08:14.800 have mitigated by just saying to the commissioner, I'm so sorry. 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:17.580 I fall on my sword. 0:08:20.740 --> 0:08:24.790 Something that was really interesting in this Wachtell report was 0:08:24.850 --> 0:08:28.070 how much the NBA leaned on the interview he did 0:08:28.270 --> 0:08:31.070 with ESPN and Ramona Shelburne the day after part one 0:08:31.090 --> 0:08:34.069 of my story came out. When Steve Ballmer went on air, 0:08:34.130 --> 0:08:35.950 and it is so interesting, if you guys have some 0:08:35.970 --> 0:08:38.290 free time, if you want to, you know, threaten your 0:08:38.309 --> 0:08:43.130 own marriages, go rewatch that game film sometime. Take time 0:08:43.170 --> 0:08:45.050 out of your day to rewatch what Steve Ballmer did 0:08:45.670 --> 0:08:48.290 after knowing what he actually did. And you will see 0:08:48.330 --> 0:08:51.500 that he is lying repeatedly. And once he does that, 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:55.220 and he's on the record lying in public... about what 0:08:55.260 --> 0:08:57.839 happened here, the NBA now has the ability to fact 0:08:57.860 --> 0:08:59.920 check as I did, as I have been doing this 0:08:59.940 --> 0:09:03.980 whole time. And because he decided to fight from day one, 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:06.400 as opposed to what you suggest, which is say, I 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:09.500 am horrified by what I tried to do. 0:09:09.710 --> 0:09:11.250 I love basketball too much. 0:09:11.450 --> 0:09:13.930 I wanted the thing that I know I can't have, 0:09:14.170 --> 0:09:16.929 even though I'm the richest owner in sports. And I 0:09:16.990 --> 0:09:19.330 am so humiliated by this. And I want to put 0:09:19.350 --> 0:09:22.830 this behind me and move on. I don't think we're here. 0:09:23.980 --> 0:09:26.439 I don't have a 15-part series. I may not have 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:29.819 a Pulitzer Prize. The NBA might not have a 35-page 0:09:30.100 --> 0:09:33.699 legal report. Steve Ballmer may not pay $ 50 million, as 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:38.020 he has now said, for the legal investigation into him, 0:09:38.540 --> 0:09:39.330 which is what has happened. 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:41.500 It's crazy. That was the fork in the road, and 0:09:41.540 --> 0:09:44.150 he chose, I would say, to not tell the truth. 0:09:44.750 --> 0:09:47.890 We're talking to Pablo Torre, the journalist, podcaster, host of 0:09:47.990 --> 0:09:52.380 Pablo Torre Finds Out with Metal Ark Media. This isn't 0:09:52.420 --> 0:09:54.370 the first time that this has happened with an owner. 0:09:55.390 --> 0:10:00.050 It won't be the last, but I'm just surprised it 0:10:00.110 --> 0:10:02.729 hasn't come up before. Now, I know that Balmer tried 0:10:02.750 --> 0:10:05.740 to do this with DeAndre Jordan, which doesn't help his 0:10:05.790 --> 0:10:10.150 case in this situation. But do you think that this is, 0:10:10.500 --> 0:10:13.660 how prevalent do you think this has been? And is 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:17.679 there anything that you're interested in that might be going 0:10:17.900 --> 0:10:21.140 on akin to this of circumventing the salary cap? 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:25.200 You got me to do it one time, and I said, 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:28.070 what about a certain player who plays in a city 0:10:28.110 --> 0:10:31.030 where I may be living right now? And I said that, 0:10:31.429 --> 0:10:35.110 and I've been trying to manage the expectations ever since. 0:10:35.130 --> 0:10:37.130 Stan, I see what you're doing. You're a clever interviewer. 0:10:37.630 --> 0:10:40.510 But are you looking into the Knicks and Jalen Brunson? 0:10:41.670 --> 0:10:43.429 I am not focusing on the. 0:10:43.929 --> 0:10:46.680 What do they say when you're an ESPN employee and 0:10:46.700 --> 0:10:50.080 you're trying to break graphics without breaking graphics? You say, 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:54.300 I am not currently targeting. I am not currently looking into. 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:57.219 I'm not currently circling Jalen Brunson and the Knicks. 0:10:58.220 --> 0:11:00.860 I have had all sorts of calls about so many teams. 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:03.620 I've talked to people on the Knicks about all of this, 0:11:03.740 --> 0:11:05.679 and they're just not the focus because we have other 0:11:05.730 --> 0:11:08.170 things that are, by the way, coming very soon that 0:11:08.190 --> 0:11:11.010 are in the vein of what are billionaires who run 0:11:11.050 --> 0:11:14.500 sports trying to get away with using your money? And 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:16.260 I will leave it there just for now, because I 0:11:16.300 --> 0:11:18.980 think we got to button some stuff up, but that's, there's, 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:23.579 let me say this soon on the show, we will 0:11:23.820 --> 0:11:26.980 start a new series and that new series will speak 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:30.300 to a lot of the themes and even more, I think, uh, 0:11:31.500 --> 0:11:35.920 even greater complications for what the everyday person in America 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:36.840 should be worried about. 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:39.480 And so what did Ballmer do here? What makes this 0:11:39.540 --> 0:11:40.040 one special? 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:46.920 He had the ambition of creating a scheme that is 0:11:46.980 --> 0:11:51.219 beyond what other owners have attempted. That much I'm very 0:11:51.260 --> 0:11:56.020 comfortable saying. This is the furthest point in the spectrum 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:58.420 of attempted salary cap circumvention. 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:02.020 People do it by degree. No one did it by 0:12:02.059 --> 0:12:03.140 this order of magnitude. 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:06.699 And that's why the NBA, which wanted to make everybody 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:07.680 stop talking about this. 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:10.760 It's why they had to do the thing we saw yesterday. 0:12:11.980 --> 0:12:14.959 How does ESPN go with the story with their finest 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:20.620 investigative reporters that basically exonerated the Clippers and Steve Ballmer? 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:26.760 I mean. I, for 15 parts a year, did, of course, 0:12:26.780 --> 0:12:31.280 the other thing. I found sources, whistleblowers, documents who were 0:12:31.300 --> 0:12:36.540 willing to tell the truth. What was left open, if 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:38.250 you think of all of this as sports, right? What's 0:12:38.300 --> 0:12:42.050 left available as territory for us to claim? What ESPN 0:12:42.090 --> 0:12:45.530 apparently saw was the Clipper side of the story. And 0:12:45.550 --> 0:12:49.170 the NBA immediately, within an hour, refutes it vociferously with 0:12:49.250 --> 0:12:52.010 Mike Bass's name attached, Dan, and you know how rare 0:12:52.050 --> 0:12:54.719 that is. for there to be a byline on a 0:12:54.760 --> 0:12:59.620 statement that says significant and numerous inaccuracies. And what ESPN 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:03.520 had done, according to my reporting, is they were fed 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:07.000 a story by the Clippers that the Clippers may have 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:09.420 known was not true. 0:13:10.140 --> 0:13:11.000 And why do you do that? 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:14.410 Well, perhaps it's because that's the available territory that you have, 0:13:14.450 --> 0:13:15.370 having been beaten before. 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:17.330 On the other part of this landscape. 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:20.310 Perhaps you really believed it because the Clippers look you 0:13:20.350 --> 0:13:22.750 in the eye and for months or a year said 0:13:22.770 --> 0:13:27.069 to you, we're telling the truth, that annoying clout-chasing podcaster 0:13:27.110 --> 0:13:30.990 is lying to you. And at a certain point, it's 0:13:31.030 --> 0:13:35.060 a test. Do you choose to believe the evidence, the sources, 0:13:35.440 --> 0:13:37.859 the journalism, or do you try to get a win 0:13:38.440 --> 0:13:39.820 even when the game's already over? 0:13:41.820 --> 0:13:44.380 Do you care? Have you received an apology from ESPN? 0:13:45.670 --> 0:13:46.429 You know what's interesting? 0:13:46.450 --> 0:13:51.199 I submitted, I was told after the story published, hey, 0:13:51.260 --> 0:13:53.980 if you want to have a comment here, because this 0:13:54.059 --> 0:13:59.260 is effectively refuting your whole deal here, we'll include. 0:13:59.020 --> 0:13:59.740 A statement from you. 0:14:00.500 --> 0:14:04.980 And so I submitted a statement, and I'll just paraphrase it. 0:14:05.220 --> 0:14:07.719 It was, we stand by our reporting, and we look 0:14:07.780 --> 0:14:13.090 forward to the NBA's ruling. Our investigation continues. For whatever reason, 0:14:13.110 --> 0:14:17.460 ESPN did not include it. And so I don't expect 0:14:17.500 --> 0:14:19.180 an apology. I don't expect anything. 0:14:19.540 --> 0:14:21.980 Nor do I think I even need or deserve one, right? 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:25.239 Like, I'm a big boy, as they say. I just 0:14:25.340 --> 0:14:30.030 wonder why it happened like this. Because in this story, 0:14:30.050 --> 0:14:36.270 a story of no alternate rational explanations, it sure seems 0:14:36.310 --> 0:14:39.430 to me, based on my reporting, that they got fed 0:14:39.460 --> 0:14:42.140 a story by the people who were lying to everybody 0:14:42.180 --> 0:14:42.860 this whole time. 0:14:43.580 --> 0:14:46.420 And I got implicated as a result of it. How 0:14:46.450 --> 0:14:48.770 much money did Kawhi Leonard make off the books, in 0:14:48.790 --> 0:14:49.250 your opinion? 0:14:50.570 --> 0:14:53.130 So I'll tell you factually what I know and what 0:14:53.150 --> 0:14:57.660 I don't. So Aspiration has a total value of $ 48 million. 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:01.900 Now let's bring in the other companies, right? Boingo Wireless. 0:15:02.890 --> 0:15:03.250 Of course. 0:15:03.270 --> 0:15:06.580 Which is just funny because, of course, the wireless provider 0:15:06.660 --> 0:15:11.520 of the Intuit dome is giving Kawhi Leonard payments off 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:11.900 the books. 0:15:12.540 --> 0:15:16.940 Of course, Daktronics, the scoreboard operator, is. Of course, Lockton Insurance, 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:20.460 the insurance company on the construction of the dome, is 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:24.480 doing the same thing, Dan. Wow. Those three companies, according. 0:15:24.140 --> 0:15:26.680 To the NBA's investigation through 2021, guaranteed $ 18 million to 0:15:26.730 --> 0:15:27.640 Kawhi Leonard. 0:15:27.660 --> 0:15:28.850 So doing the math, that's $ 66 million. 0:15:28.890 --> 0:15:29.030 Wow. 0:15:32.910 --> 0:15:34.470 Only through, let's call it 2022. 0:15:34.470 --> 0:15:39.340 He re-signs with the Clippers, as I've said before on 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:43.100 my show, in January of 24 for a discount. 0:15:43.500 --> 0:15:49.220 A discount. Less than the max. Why and what happened there? 0:15:49.620 --> 0:15:53.320 And so you're at 66 million plus. I've told the story, 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:55.480 the beginning of it, around the Rhode Island Football Club. 0:15:55.500 --> 0:15:59.810 Started in LLC, in which he got secret undisclosed equity 0:16:00.190 --> 0:16:03.900 the week before he signed the extension. And I ask, 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:07.420 as always, what else was there? And I have a feeling, 0:16:07.620 --> 0:16:08.760 as always, that there is more. 0:16:10.970 --> 0:16:11.470 Congrats. 0:16:13.190 --> 0:16:16.990 It's been a long process there. And at least you 0:16:17.010 --> 0:16:20.010 get a trophy. You get something the Clippers don't have. 0:16:20.050 --> 0:16:20.770 You get a trophy. 0:16:21.550 --> 0:16:25.740 You know, I wasn't going to make the joke, but 0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:26.240 I'm glad you did. 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:29.120 Thank you, Dan. Thank you, Pablo. 0:16:29.380 --> 0:16:33.260 Pablo Torre. He won a Pulitzer Prize. I think it's 0:16:33.300 --> 0:16:33.720 a trophy. 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:34.380 I don't know. 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:38.320 I haven't even seen a Pulitzer. Is it a statue? 0:16:39.100 --> 0:16:42.210 Is it a plaque? Maybe some of my best people 0:16:42.270 --> 0:16:46.729 could get on that right now. A ribbon? Wait, Pablo. 0:16:48.300 --> 0:16:49.480 okay what i. 0:16:49.460 --> 0:16:52.440 Hope i don't i don't admittedly i've become known now 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:54.820 for my investigations i don't know what this looks like 0:16:54.900 --> 0:16:58.590 either which is perhaps embarrassing but my hope is that 0:16:58.650 --> 0:17:02.470 it's a karate trophy oh i want a big karate 0:17:02.530 --> 0:17:04.670 trophy with a karate man on the top because i 0:17:04.730 --> 0:17:06.770 only was a white belt and i've been chasing that 0:17:06.810 --> 0:17:08.720 high ever since so that'd be nice. 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:15.040 You might need that white belt You're going to. 0:17:14.980 --> 0:17:15.679 Need a black belt. 0:17:15.700 --> 0:17:16.030 You know what? 0:17:16.290 --> 0:17:18.910 The more questions you ask about Jalen Brunson, the more 0:17:18.970 --> 0:17:20.270 martial arts training. 0:17:19.970 --> 0:17:23.169 I'm going to need in New York City, Dan. You 0:17:23.190 --> 0:17:25.010 brought up Jalen Brunson again. 0:17:25.910 --> 0:17:27.830 You pesky journalist with your questions. 0:17:27.850 --> 0:17:28.830 Yeah. All right. 0:17:29.010 --> 0:17:30.090 I'm not winning a Pulitzer. 0:17:30.330 --> 0:17:30.590 All right. 0:17:30.930 --> 0:17:34.429 That's Pablo Torre. Did a great job. All right. Let 0:17:34.450 --> 0:17:34.970 me take a break. 0:17:35.550 --> 0:17:38.890 Brian Windhorst, we'll talk the basketball angle of this coming 0:17:38.950 --> 0:17:40.020 up with Wendy after this. 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:42.920 Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:46.679 Patrick Show weekdays at 9 a.m. Eastern, 6 a.m. Pacific 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:49.719 on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app. 0:17:50.190 --> 0:17:52.830 Hey, it's Covino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio. 0:17:53.030 --> 0:17:55.580 Now, in addition to hearing us live weekdays from 5 0:17:55.580 --> 0:17:58.260 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:01.920 Sports Radio, we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube 0:18:01.960 --> 0:18:02.859 channel for the show. 0:18:02.940 --> 0:18:03.840 Yup, that's right. 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:06.380 You can now watch Covino and Rich live on YouTube 0:18:06.619 --> 0:18:09.490 every day. All you gotta do, search Covino and Rich 0:18:09.650 --> 0:18:13.700 FSR on YouTube. Again, Go to YouTube, search Covino & 0:18:13.700 --> 0:18:18.080 Rich FSR. Check us out on YouTube, subscribe, hit that 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:20.000 thumbs up icon, and comment away. 0:18:20.460 --> 0:18:21.699 More phone calls coming up. 0:18:22.420 --> 0:18:24.480 Stat of the Day brought to you by Panini America, 0:18:25.180 --> 0:18:30.180 the official trading card of the Dan Patrick Show. ESPN 0:18:30.220 --> 0:18:34.330 senior NBA writer Brian Windhorst joining us. Wendy, great to 0:18:34.369 --> 0:18:37.550 talk to you. Is there any way the Clippers can 0:18:37.609 --> 0:18:40.490 mitigate any of this damage moving forward? 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:47.550 Absolutely. You know, number one, they can drop their chance of, 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:50.640 you know, threats of legal action because I don't think 0:18:50.660 --> 0:18:55.680 it's going to be successful. And, you know, they really 0:18:55.740 --> 0:18:58.220 need this Kawhi Leonard trade to go through that they 0:18:58.260 --> 0:19:02.270 negotiated with the Raptors as constituted because they're going to 0:19:02.290 --> 0:19:05.770 get two first round picks for him. And, you know, 0:19:05.830 --> 0:19:09.310 in the case of the Minnesota Timberwolves situation, and I 0:19:09.369 --> 0:19:13.070 think It's really reasonable to point that out because obviously 0:19:13.109 --> 0:19:17.359 it's the one comparable incidence in history. They were docked 0:19:17.460 --> 0:19:20.639 five first-round draft picks, just like the Clippers. And when 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:23.379 the Timberwolves kept their noses clean and stayed on the 0:19:23.420 --> 0:19:25.840 straight and narrow, David Stern ended up giving them back 0:19:25.940 --> 0:19:29.770 two of the picks. And that happened over a five-year span. 0:19:29.790 --> 0:19:32.330 They were hit with the picks immediately over the following 0:19:32.369 --> 0:19:36.310 five years. In this case, the picks are starting, the 0:19:36.350 --> 0:19:41.530 penalties start in 29. They go out to 34. Who's 0:19:41.550 --> 0:19:44.760 to say that by 2031 or 2032, if the Clippers 0:19:45.220 --> 0:19:47.040 keep their nose clean, they won't be able to get 0:19:47.790 --> 0:19:49.950 some of that you know, one or two of them back. 0:19:50.430 --> 0:19:53.170 That's something that you can, you know, talk about off 0:19:53.210 --> 0:19:57.290 the record right now. And so in the case of 0:19:57.310 --> 0:20:00.390 the Timberwolves, Joe Smith's contract was vacated. 0:20:00.410 --> 0:20:00.990 It was voided. 0:20:01.190 --> 0:20:03.770 He was a free agent. In this case, the Clippers 0:20:03.830 --> 0:20:06.760 are permitted to keep the player with no significant penalty. 0:20:07.660 --> 0:20:09.820 They can trade him and get assets back for him. 0:20:10.380 --> 0:20:13.359 Not only that, but the length of the investigation the 0:20:13.380 --> 0:20:15.840 Clippers used in their favor. They were able to make 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:18.160 moves that landed them the number five pick in this 0:20:18.180 --> 0:20:21.639 year's draft and the ability to negotiate this Kawhi trade 0:20:21.680 --> 0:20:25.919 without a suspension hanging over his head. So they are 0:20:26.050 --> 0:20:29.409 in a lot better position to absorb this than they 0:20:29.430 --> 0:20:32.570 would have been if this was handled differently. And while 0:20:32.650 --> 0:20:36.270 I understand that hell hath no fury like an angry 0:20:36.950 --> 0:20:37.930 billionaire with $ 100 billion. 0:20:40.000 --> 0:20:42.040 He probably should listen to a little bit of reason 0:20:42.720 --> 0:20:46.359 because the league said, or at least the report said, 0:20:46.420 --> 0:20:50.240