1
00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:17,120
Speaker 1: The volume. All right, welcome to Hoop tonight. You're at

2
00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,520
Speaker 1: the volume heavy Thursday. Everybody hopeful If you guys are

3
00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:21,720
Speaker 1: having a great week. We finally got a bit of

4
00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:24,759
Speaker 1: NBA news today for the first time in what feels

5
00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:27,520
Speaker 1: like an age, So we're taking a break from our

6
00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:31,000
Speaker 1: player rankings for a bonus episode. I'm just gonna give you,

7
00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:35,760
Speaker 1: guys my very quick thoughts on the bombshell report dropped

8
00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:38,880
Speaker 1: by Pablo Tory on his show Pablo Tory finds Out

9
00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:41,839
Speaker 1: this morning. I'm just going to frame it by reading

10
00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,400
Speaker 1: the tweet that came from the Pablo Tory finds Out

11
00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:48,440
Speaker 1: Twitter feed. You can find at Pablo tor or excuse

12
00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:53,960
Speaker 1: me at Pablo finds Out. Exclusive. Kawhi Leonard signed a

13
00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:58,840
Speaker 1: twenty eight million dollar endorsement deal for a no show

14
00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:04,399
Speaker 1: job with a fraudulent tree planting company funded by fifty

15
00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,119
Speaker 1: million dollars from Clippers owner Steve Balmer. According to dot

16
00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:12,120
Speaker 1: To documents obtained by Pablo Tory, it was to circumvent

17
00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:16,920
Speaker 1: the salary cap and inside source says, so we're just

18
00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:19,200
Speaker 1: gonna very briefly kind of go over the nuts and

19
00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:21,440
Speaker 1: bolts of the report. I'll give you guys my take

20
00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:22,840
Speaker 1: on it, and then we'll get out of here today.

21
00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:24,560
Speaker 1: You guys know the drill before we get started. Subscribe

22
00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:26,040
Speaker 1: to the Hoops and I YouTube channels. You don't miss

23
00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:27,800
Speaker 1: any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at

24
00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:30,640
Speaker 1: underscore j aclts. You guys don't miss show announcements. Don't

25
00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:32,479
Speaker 1: forget about a podcast feed where we get your podcast

26
00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:34,640
Speaker 1: under Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if you leave

27
00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:36,959
Speaker 1: your rating in a review. On that front, Jackson's doing

28
00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:39,640
Speaker 1: great work on our social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook,

29
00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:41,679
Speaker 1: and TikTok. Make sure you guys follow us there. In

30
00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,120
Speaker 1: the last but not least, keep dropping mailbag questions in

31
00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,400
Speaker 1: our YouTube comments. You get to get into our Friday

32
00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:51,200
Speaker 1: mail bags throughout the remainder of the season. All right,

33
00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:54,720
Speaker 1: let's dig into this. So first and foremost, I highly

34
00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:57,800
Speaker 1: recommend that you guys go to the Pablo Tory finds

35
00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,400
Speaker 1: Out YouTube page and watch the full LEP. So. It's

36
00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:06,160
Speaker 1: about eighty minutes long, but it meticulously lays out all

37
00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:09,640
Speaker 1: of the moving parts at play in this scandal. And

38
00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:11,720
Speaker 1: I'm not going to get into all of the details

39
00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:14,320
Speaker 1: because one it would spoil the episode. I highly recommend

40
00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:16,280
Speaker 1: you guys check it out, and it's just better to

41
00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:19,200
Speaker 1: actually see everything laid out. You can actually see the documents,

42
00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:22,960
Speaker 1: he highlights the relevant material. You'll learn a lot about

43
00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,720
Speaker 1: this process by watching the video. But the short and

44
00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:29,880
Speaker 1: sweet version is that over the course of Kauwhai's second

45
00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,799
Speaker 1: contracts important detail there which we'll get to in a minute.

46
00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:37,160
Speaker 1: Over the course of Kawai's second contract with the Clippers,

47
00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:41,200
Speaker 1: he collected about seven million dollars per year for four

48
00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:47,280
Speaker 1: years to essentially do absolutely nothing for a company called Aspiration.

49
00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:50,799
Speaker 1: There was some digging that was done online today by

50
00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:54,280
Speaker 1: some random people on Twitter who found there were some

51
00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:59,840
Speaker 1: Twitter posts from the Clippers official feed that had Kauwhi's

52
00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:05,240
Speaker 1: image or likeness on it with reference to Aspiration. But

53
00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:07,840
Speaker 1: that was it. There was no direct mention from Kawhi,

54
00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:12,840
Speaker 1: no endorsement, no like, no retweet, no anything of the sort,

55
00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:16,919
Speaker 1: and yet he was paid seven million dollars per year

56
00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:20,160
Speaker 1: as part of a twenty eight million dollar contract by

57
00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:25,320
Speaker 1: these Aspiration folks. Now, the smoking gun came down to

58
00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,720
Speaker 1: two very specific clauses in the contract, one that stated

59
00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:30,880
Speaker 1: that he basically could refuse to do anything he didn't

60
00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:33,400
Speaker 1: want to do if they didn't align with his values.

61
00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,640
Speaker 1: So it was essentially a contractual protection that allowed him

62
00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:38,960
Speaker 1: to collect his twenty eight million dollars without ever actually

63
00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,880
Speaker 1: doing anything. And the second part of the smoking gun

64
00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:49,320
Speaker 1: was a clause in there that specifically nullified the contract

65
00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:54,280
Speaker 1: if Kawhi ever left the Clippers, even for bizarre situations

66
00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,560
Speaker 1: like a buyout or retirement. So the interesting kind of

67
00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:01,680
Speaker 1: difference there being like, Oh, if you don't do anything,

68
00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:06,280
Speaker 1: you're good, but if you leave, the Clippers were done

69
00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:10,120
Speaker 1: paying you. And so that's the real smoking gun in

70
00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:12,320
Speaker 1: all of this. As you guys know, why would they care?

71
00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:17,039
Speaker 1: NBA stars are an entity separate from anything having to

72
00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:19,360
Speaker 1: do with the franchise. I mean, hell, they appear in

73
00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,320
Speaker 1: commercials all the time wearing blank jerseys, right, So like,

74
00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:25,680
Speaker 1: why would they care if Kawhi was actually employed by

75
00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,120
Speaker 1: the Clippers as part of this endorsement deal. So from there,

76
00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:32,720
Speaker 1: the only remaining connection that Pablo needed to establish was

77
00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:37,160
Speaker 1: the connection between Steve Balmer himself and this company Aspiration.

78
00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:40,120
Speaker 1: If you're trying to say that Steve Balmer paid Kawhi,

79
00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:42,560
Speaker 1: but always see his Aspiration paid Kawhi, you just need

80
00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:46,680
Speaker 1: to connect Steve to Aspiration and you have yourself that

81
00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:53,200
Speaker 1: In the pod, they called it the transitive property in finances.

82
00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:58,280
Speaker 1: So Pablo meticulously laid out in his episode showing documents

83
00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:02,320
Speaker 1: that essentially proved that Steve Ballmer gave fifty million dollars

84
00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:06,400
Speaker 1: of his own money directly to Aspiration, and the timing

85
00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:11,159
Speaker 1: of it conspicuously was almost immediately before Kawhi signed his

86
00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:13,640
Speaker 1: own deal with Aspiration. Now the full story again gets

87
00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:17,960
Speaker 1: way more complicated. Aspiration is currently under federal investigation for fraud.

88
00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:20,760
Speaker 1: One of their two founding members was arrested as part

89
00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:23,360
Speaker 1: of that investigation. The other guys attempting a journey into

90
00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:26,640
Speaker 1: the world of politics with the Democratic Party. Aspiration's old

91
00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:29,640
Speaker 1: business model was planting trees for carbon neutrality, but they

92
00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:33,480
Speaker 1: weren't even verifying regularly if the trees were planted they were.

93
00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:36,800
Speaker 1: There were allegedly a bunch of fraudulent letters of intent.

94
00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:40,680
Speaker 1: It's a whole mess of fascinating stuff. So again I

95
00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:43,680
Speaker 1: highly recommend you guys go and check out the full episode,

96
00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:45,240
Speaker 1: But there are two elements here that I want to

97
00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:49,400
Speaker 1: get into. We are extremely excited to announce our new

98
00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:53,279
Speaker 1: presenting sponsor, hard Rock Bet Everyone knows and loves the

99
00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:55,800
Speaker 1: hard rock hotels and casinos, and now you can use

100
00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:59,159
Speaker 1: the top rated hard Rock Bet sports book to place

101
00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:03,279
Speaker 1: all of your bets all NFL season and beyond. Hard

102
00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:05,640
Speaker 1: Rock Bet is the only legal sportsbook in the state

103
00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:12,080
Speaker 1: of Florida and is also available in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois,

104
00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,839
Speaker 1: and Colorado, with more states launching all the time. You

105
00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:18,560
Speaker 1: can also play on hard Rock Bets online casino if

106
00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:20,880
Speaker 1: you're in New Jersey. So from here on out, you're

107
00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:23,760
Speaker 1: gonna see us use betting lines from hard Rock Bet,

108
00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:26,760
Speaker 1: especially as we get into the NBA season. It'll be

109
00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:28,600
Speaker 1: a big part of our coverage from there and as

110
00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:31,000
Speaker 1: we gear up for the NFL season. Sign up for

111
00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,240
Speaker 1: hard Rock Bet and make a five dollars bet and

112
00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:36,679
Speaker 1: you'll get one hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets

113
00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:38,960
Speaker 1: if you win. Head over to hard Rock Bet and

114
00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:42,360
Speaker 1: sign up and make your first deposit today, payable in

115
00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,560
Speaker 1: bonus bets, not a cash offer offered by the Seminal

116
00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:49,680
Speaker 1: Tribe of Florida. In Florida, offered by Seminal hard Rock Digital, LLC.

117
00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,720
Speaker 1: In all other states must be twenty one plus and

118
00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:57,680
Speaker 1: physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee,

119
00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:01,360
Speaker 1: or Virginia to play. Terms and conditions apply. Concerned about

120
00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:04,720
Speaker 1: gambling in Florida called one eight eight eight admit it.

121
00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:07,160
Speaker 1: In Indiana, if you or someone you know has a

122
00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:09,840
Speaker 1: gambling problem and wants help, call one eight hundred and

123
00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,520
Speaker 1: nine with it. Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler

124
00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:19,200
Speaker 1: in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia.

125
00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:22,200
Speaker 1: The first is the timing, and this is something that

126
00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:26,720
Speaker 1: needs to be emphasized up front. This whole situation seems

127
00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,080
Speaker 1: to be centered around Kawhi's second contract with the Clippers,

128
00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:33,360
Speaker 1: not the first. I saw a lot of people on

129
00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,080
Speaker 1: Twitter this morning saying like, oh, this is how they

130
00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:40,000
Speaker 1: got him over the Lakers. As far as I can tell,

131
00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:43,239
Speaker 1: there's no evidence that directly ties those two things together.

132
00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:49,120
Speaker 1: We all saw the reports surrounding that time, Uncle Dennis

133
00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:55,320
Speaker 1: requesting a private jet and requesting guaranteed off court money.

134
00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:58,520
Speaker 1: A bunch of these like ridiculous requests right that were

135
00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:01,760
Speaker 1: directed towards the Raptor and the Lakers and the Clippers.

136
00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:04,800
Speaker 1: I even vaguely remember reading a report about like a

137
00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,320
Speaker 1: house that may or may not have allegedly been purchased

138
00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,400
Speaker 1: for him. But the true story there is that the

139
00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:15,400
Speaker 1: NBA did conduct an investigation surrounding that particular signing and

140
00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:19,640
Speaker 1: didn't find anything. So this particular string of evidence is

141
00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:22,560
Speaker 1: more directly associated with this second contract. The reason why

142
00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:25,600
Speaker 1: I think that's worth mentioning is for all of the

143
00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:29,360
Speaker 1: reasons why Kawhi chose the Clippers over the Lakers, we

144
00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:33,600
Speaker 1: still don't have anything that's concrete that the Clippers did

145
00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:36,640
Speaker 1: for Kawhi that poached him away from the Clippers, And

146
00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:39,280
Speaker 1: I just think that's worth mentioning because I think that

147
00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:42,400
Speaker 1: those are two separate issues, right, But the second issue

148
00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:46,640
Speaker 1: remains regardless. This is a compelling set of evidence that

149
00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:49,640
Speaker 1: leads us to believe that Steve Balmer and the Clippers

150
00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:53,079
Speaker 1: circumvented the salary cap to give Kawhi Leonard more than

151
00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:55,960
Speaker 1: the collective bargaining agreement would typically allow a team to

152
00:08:55,960 --> 00:09:01,240
Speaker 1: pay somebody of Kaui's ability. Now, but in this second issue,

153
00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:03,720
Speaker 1: I think there are two different ways to look at this.

154
00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:10,560
Speaker 1: The first is the obvious one, fairness you. Obviously, in

155
00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:14,840
Speaker 1: competitive sports, what a level playing field. You don't want

156
00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:19,079
Speaker 1: teams breaking the rules to accumulate more talent than they

157
00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:22,200
Speaker 1: normally would to give them an unfair advantage. I see

158
00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:26,280
Speaker 1: that point of view. We all, as competitors should believe

159
00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:29,920
Speaker 1: in that sanctity of fairness, and I am completely okay

160
00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:34,439
Speaker 1: with the NBA and Adam Silver taking any action necessary

161
00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:40,760
Speaker 1: based on the proof to punish the associated property parties appropriately.

162
00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:43,120
Speaker 1: Right now, again, like you know how it gets with

163
00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:45,520
Speaker 1: these these legal avenues. It could very well be that

164
00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:47,360
Speaker 1: they get in there and they're like, well, what about

165
00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:52,240
Speaker 1: this name, image and likeness post from the Clippers account

166
00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:55,520
Speaker 1: feed dis counts as a service directly provided by Kawhi.

167
00:09:55,559 --> 00:09:57,760
Speaker 1: They may find a loophole to escape this, and this

168
00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:00,760
Speaker 1: may very well end up not ending in any sort

169
00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:05,120
Speaker 1: of legitimate punishment. But anybody who's done any research or

170
00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:09,360
Speaker 1: been paying any attention to Pablo's recent escapades, the NFL

171
00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:14,559
Speaker 1: is still reeling from his investigation into the guaranteed contracts

172
00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:17,520
Speaker 1: that were being avoided by many of these teams. And

173
00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:21,000
Speaker 1: obviously we all remember the Bill Belichick saga that kind

174
00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:24,480
Speaker 1: of broke Pablo Tory finds out that show on to

175
00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:27,120
Speaker 1: the national stage. You would be foolish to think that

176
00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:29,440
Speaker 1: this is just going to go under the rug. So

177
00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:32,040
Speaker 1: I would imagine that there will be some kind of

178
00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:37,200
Speaker 1: fallout of some sort. Pablo even in his full episode,

179
00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:40,600
Speaker 1: when about bringing up the quote from Adam Silver after

180
00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:44,520
Speaker 1: the first investigation where he basically said, we take this

181
00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:48,080
Speaker 1: very seriously. He was Adam Silver specifically referred to it

182
00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:51,280
Speaker 1: as the cardinal sin in the NBA, and he said

183
00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:55,000
Speaker 1: that if they discovered any additional evidence, they would reopen

184
00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:59,000
Speaker 1: the investigation. And the NBA spokesperson came out today and

185
00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,160
Speaker 1: said that they were going to to restart that investigation.

186
00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:05,080
Speaker 1: So my guess is that we will see something come

187
00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:07,400
Speaker 1: of this. And as I said, I believe in the

188
00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:11,280
Speaker 1: sanctity of fairness and competition, and I believe that the

189
00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:16,680
Speaker 1: associated parties should be punished. But life is full of

190
00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:20,640
Speaker 1: gray areas, and the second way of looking this looking

191
00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:23,040
Speaker 1: at this is very much one of those gray areas.

192
00:11:24,679 --> 00:11:26,400
Speaker 1: Do I think the Clippers are the first team in

193
00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:30,280
Speaker 1: the NBA to inappropriately pay a player underneath the table? No,

194
00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:34,760
Speaker 1: I do not. We see so many examples throughout the

195
00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:39,920
Speaker 1: world of sports of well known entities in those leagues cheating,

196
00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:46,160
Speaker 1: whether it be the Houston Astros, whether it be the

197
00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:50,160
Speaker 1: New England Patriots multiple times with the spygates saga and

198
00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:53,559
Speaker 1: the deflate Gates saga, whether it be the Michigan Wolverines,

199
00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:57,800
Speaker 1: and sign stealing, whatever it is, illegal videotaping, sign stealing,

200
00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:02,840
Speaker 1: the illegal signals sending to batters in Major League Baseball.

201
00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:06,360
Speaker 1: We've seen this a ton And by the way, I'm

202
00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:09,680
Speaker 1: not excusing cheating by any stretch of the imagination. I

203
00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:13,840
Speaker 1: think it's super lame and I am one hundred percent

204
00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:15,560
Speaker 1: on board with the leagues punishing the hell out of

205
00:12:15,559 --> 00:12:18,960
Speaker 1: these people when they do it. But the reality is

206
00:12:19,679 --> 00:12:23,560
Speaker 1: super competitive people are always looking for an edge, even

207
00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:26,720
Speaker 1: in gray areas that aren't necessarily cheating, like foulgrifting like

208
00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:29,640
Speaker 1: we talk about. Do I think Jalen Brunson and Shay Gilders,

209
00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:34,240
Speaker 1: Alexander and Luka, Doncic and Austin Reeves foul grift because

210
00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:37,440
Speaker 1: they don't believe in the sanctity of basketball. No, I

211
00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:39,440
Speaker 1: think they do it because they want free throws, and

212
00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,040
Speaker 1: free throws are worth points, and points help you win

213
00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:45,040
Speaker 1: basketball games, and getting to the foul line allows your

214
00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:47,360
Speaker 1: team to rest and get their defense set. Getting into

215
00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:49,280
Speaker 1: the foul line is a huge asset. We covered that

216
00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:52,240
Speaker 1: in detail with Jimmy Butler and the Warriors this year.

217
00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:57,280
Speaker 1: So like, it's just competitive nature manifesting in them looking

218
00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:01,560
Speaker 1: for an edge. But if if you get caught, you

219
00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:04,920
Speaker 1: have to be prepared to face the consequences. I just

220
00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:07,400
Speaker 1: think it's funny because when you look at it, I

221
00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:10,240
Speaker 1: don't think it's a coincidence that the Houston Astros went

222
00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:14,160
Speaker 1: on to win a World Series anyway after the cheating scandal,

223
00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,360
Speaker 1: or the fact that the New England Patriots won multiple

224
00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:23,320
Speaker 1: Super Bowls after Spygate, or that Tom Brady won multiple

225
00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:28,080
Speaker 1: Super Bowls after deflate Gate, manifesting that original idea that

226
00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:32,360
Speaker 1: I just brought up, which is that supreme competitors are

227
00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:37,600
Speaker 1: always looking for an advantage. If you're Steve Balmer and

228
00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:43,120
Speaker 1: you're looking at the playing field and you're like, I

229
00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:45,960
Speaker 1: have more money than Genie Buss, I have more money

230
00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:48,760
Speaker 1: than all these guys. I'm one of the richest m

231
00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:51,720
Speaker 1: efforts in the world, and I can use that to

232
00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,760
Speaker 1: help me win basketball games. It's not really hard for

233
00:13:55,800 --> 00:14:00,240
Speaker 1: me to see how that ended up taking place. It's

234
00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:03,600
Speaker 1: no different than you know, with the astros of the Patriots,

235
00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:06,079
Speaker 1: they're just they just think they're smarter. They're like, we're smarter.

236
00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:07,600
Speaker 1: We're going to find a way to find a way

237
00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:10,680
Speaker 1: to win even more by circumventing this rule or that rule.

238
00:14:10,679 --> 00:14:13,120
Speaker 1: And again I'm not defending it. I'm just saying I

239
00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:16,840
Speaker 1: understand it. I understand how it takes place within the

240
00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:21,200
Speaker 1: minds of these APEX competitors. They're just they they want

241
00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:24,800
Speaker 1: to win at all costs. Steve Lahmer did a lot

242
00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:28,200
Speaker 1: of winning in life before he started winning with the Clippers.

243
00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:31,080
Speaker 1: Now the joke will be and it's app there's all

244
00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:34,280
Speaker 1: sorts of hilarious jokes that are going around, whether it's

245
00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:39,120
Speaker 1: Kawhi doing no show work with the Clippers as a

246
00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:42,560
Speaker 1: basketball player, let alone for aspiration, or the jokes about

247
00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:45,800
Speaker 1: the Clippers in general having never one shit. And you

248
00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:47,560
Speaker 1: know that's the other part of this is you get

249
00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:50,640
Speaker 1: made fun of. But I just it's always just been

250
00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:53,320
Speaker 1: a part of the world of sports. It's just if

251
00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:55,360
Speaker 1: you get caught, you have to be prepared to face

252
00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:59,280
Speaker 1: the consequences. A nine hundred percent support those consequences because

253
00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:01,000
Speaker 1: I believe in the same to tea of fairness. I

254
00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:03,640
Speaker 1: just think this is the latest example in a long

255
00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:06,520
Speaker 1: line of something we've seen all over the place. There

256
00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:08,720
Speaker 1: are clearly some I guarantee you there are people in

257
00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:10,640
Speaker 1: the league right now that are just doing a better

258
00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:15,680
Speaker 1: job of it. How is it any different than Lebron

259
00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:18,800
Speaker 1: getting his son to play for the Lakers or Giannis

260
00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:21,640
Speaker 1: and Tanacumpo getting his brother to play for the Bucks. Again,

261
00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:25,600
Speaker 1: like there is inevitably in this business people are looking

262
00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:28,120
Speaker 1: for loopholes, They're looking for gray areas. They're looking for

263
00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:33,000
Speaker 1: ways to appease people, to build relationships, to stack talent,

264
00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:37,240
Speaker 1: to stack advantages so that they can win more. And

265
00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:39,480
Speaker 1: this is just the latest guy to get caught. And

266
00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:41,480
Speaker 1: it'll happen again. It'll just be someone else in a

267
00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:44,440
Speaker 1: different way. But I just want to shout out pabulatory.

268
00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:47,040
Speaker 1: I thought that was an unbelievable piece. I really enjoyed

269
00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:50,080
Speaker 1: listening to it this afternoon. You'll learn a lot about

270
00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:53,080
Speaker 1: some of the back end stuff involving like team sponsorships

271
00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:57,000
Speaker 1: and the way these investor groups work, And like he

272
00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:00,000
Speaker 1: drew some interesting lines between Steve Baumer is an incredibly

273
00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,800
Speaker 1: savvy investor, but ignoring some obvious red flags within aspiration

274
00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:07,440
Speaker 1: that nobody of his ilk would have missed under normal circumstances.

275
00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,640
Speaker 1: It's just awesome. I highly recommend you guys check it out.

276
00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:13,320
Speaker 1: It's all we have for today. We'll be back tomorrow

277
00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:15,320
Speaker 1: with our player rankings mail bag and I'll see you

278
00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:15,800
Speaker 1: guys then