Free Steve Ballmer

First off, let me say that I'm not an expert on the Aspiration scandal, nor would I probably ever be, as I now have limited interest outside of hoping that Ballmer and co. are able to get their punishment - "the harshest penalties in league history" - minimized.  This isn't something I really care to do deep research on, someone else's dirty laundry.

When I was kid, my moms used to be like 'keep your nose out of other people's business', and that's kinda how I feel in this case.  I know none of this stuff is really private, like looking in someone's window.  But still, there are some fundamental, let's say preliminary questions that I'm still having a hard time, in my own limited wisdom, processing.

WHY PUT YOUR LIFE ON THE LINE OVER SOMETHING LIKE THIS?

This question is aimed specifically at Pablo Torre, the journalist who broke the story.

Now, let's be frank.  If the Clippers really do end up having to pay $30mil(!), besides Ballmer and a couple of high-ranking executives being suspended (without pay), besides the team losing five 1st round picks(!), you have to presume that some rich, powerful people are going to be pissed off, maybe.  I've already speculated that if Kawhi was getting money under the table, Ballmer must've been receiving some too.  So maybe he'll just take it like 'okay, I jacked the money, so let me pay it back, no love loss', even though the penalty exceeds what's reportedly been paid to Kawhi.

But if not, I would believe that Torre, if he's wise, will be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life.  And I mean okay, he's a journalist and an investigative one, obviously.   I remember once reading something like, out of every profession where a person doesn't put his life in direct danger (like a cop, fireman, etc.), journalism is the most dangerous.  So there are inherent risks, which of course Pablo is cognizant of.  But that brings me to my second question.

Why, as a journalist, out of all the things to potentially put your life on the line for, would it be a professional athlete receiving money under the table?  Like, aren't there more pertinent conspiracies going on?  What about forced vaccinations and AI and datacenters and shit like that?

What I'm imagining is that maybe dude is a superfan.  You know what I mean?  Like the implication here, from what I can gather, i.e. the rationale behind not allowing players to receive money in roundabout ways is because then richer teams can enlist someone, say they're paying them one thing but actually giving him more.  And that would adversely affect the organizations with less money, obviously.  So if that kinda shit becomes pervasive, there goes the parity.

If Torre feels like that, okay.  If he's, say, a Raptors' fan and is like 'hell no, we could've kept Kawhi if not for that Aspiration sh*t', then okay, I understand.  But if not, I mean yeah, I'm kinda wondering why he was compelled to blow up the spot.

You would have to presume he did it in the name of professional advancement.  But that said, Tim Donaghy was a more ethical whistleblower, if you will.  He exposed something that affects everybody, not just some single, already rich dude receiving extra dough - but how players and fans alike were being gypped.

BALLMER ALREADY F*CKED UP ANYWAY

So okay, Uncle Dennis and all considered, what's being implied here is that LAC wanted Kawhi, but he wanted more money than they could legally offer, so they tacked on the Aspiration deal.  If that's the case, it can be said that Steve Ballmer has already been punished because, oh shit, despite that extra $20mil+, the team still sucked.

In fact, the Kawhi + PG13 + plus eventually Beard experiment has promptly gone down in history as one of the worst superteams ever.  And, double-oh shit, Leonard missed almost half the games during his tenure with the Clippers.

They didn't like super suck but were mediocre as all damn.  Meanwhile, Kawhi didn't contribute to winning in any type of noteworthy way, nor was he present consistently enough for fans to feel confident they would see him if they bought tickets.

Please Mr. Silver, Ballmer has already been punished enough.  Why would you pay an extra $20mil+ just to make the play-ins?  LOL.  But maybe, the NBA knows something I don't.

KAWHI LEONARD - YOU HAVE TO LOVE TO HATE HIM

Since we're on the subject of Kawhi, let me get this off my chest.  The first year I've begun watching the NBA was in 1991, the postseason to be exact.  I remember because that was when the Bulls won their first championship.  They beat the Lakers and then, a week later, Magic was like 'I have HIV'.  Talk about excuses.

So now, 35 years later, let me say there's only once I ever got emotional upon a player leaving a team, and that was when Kawhi forced himself out of San Antonio in 2018.  Now let me say, I'm definitely a fan, but I don't necessarily favor Leonard or the Spurs, not like that, that I particularly care about their transactions more than anyone else's.  But the reason this bothered me, even more than Kawhi playing diva (which was the rage circa 2020), is that he singlehandedly destroyed the greatest dynasty in NBA history.

Up until that point, the Spurs were the only organization, again in NBA history, to be considered contenders for 20 years straight.  And that's besides their reputation of finding diamonds outside of the lottery and developing them into superstars, like Kawhi.

So let's imagine, even if Leonard had stuck around, San Antonio still got Wemby.  After all, they did get Duncan with Robinson already on the roster.  This would have now been the fourth decade straight they were contenders.  It was Kawhi leaving that broke that streak, even though dudes were still kinda competitive after he bounced.

And I mean, in hindsight I definitely get it.  He wanted the full Lebron/KD treatment.  I didn't fully appreciate his disgruntlement at the time, but more recently, I came to empathize.

Kawhi won Finals MVP, at age 22, after only three years in the league, over a prime Lebron and D-Wade.  Let me repeat that - over a prime Lebron and D-Wade, and dude wasn't even an allstar that season.  Btw, Wade also has the distinction of winning Finals MVP in just his third season.  But it ain't like the team he was up against, the 2005-06 Mavericks, were super.

Kawhi remained with the Spurs a few more years - eventually reaching undisputed alpha status - but never won another championship with them.  However, he put doubters to rest when he replicated the feat, i.e. leading a team to the mountaintop, with the Raptors.

Leonard's stock was higher than ever, and if I remember correctly, the Raptors were in a position to pay him more than anyone else.  So all of that considered, I understand how Ballmer may have thought he was worth an extra $20mil+.  

So presumably, the reason we don't see Kawhi consistently mentioned in the same conversation as Steph, LBJ and other undeniable greats of the day is most likely due to injuries.  All of these injuries he's suffered since going to Los Angeles, if they're really real, I would have to imagine is some kinda karma, because after Toronto, he was truly on his way to being considered an all-time great.  And what is fate punishing him for?  Sh*tting on the Spurs, of course.

Or as a wise woman once told me, 'it's not what you ask for but how you ask for it'.  If you felt the organization was undervaluing you, okay.  But deserting your teammates and shit like that, especially when you're the best player on the team, isn't a good look.  It ain't like dude was a free agent, like, say, Lebron when he left Miami.  Kawhi was just like 'fukit, I quit'.

So yeah, I do believe sometimes that the powers-that-be aren't too fond of dude and perhaps don't want him to become more influential.  But I don't believe those feelings have anything to do with the Aspiration probe per se.  But if you have to stick to anyone for doing something grimy, why not Kawhi?  This is yet another strike against his legacy.

CONCLUSION

Dear Commissioner Silver, yeah, we get it.  Lebron, the most-popular player in the NBA, just signed a deal for only $4mil/year, and by gosh, that's all he's gonna get.  We can't have organizations going around, circumventing and shit.  The struggle for parity is real, and there will be casualties.

But that said, in this case, who really gives AF?  By the looks of things, the Clippers already shot themselves in the foot, paying an extra $20mil+ for a player who, as far as I know, hasn't won jackshit for the franchise.  If that is solely the case, then this has to rank amongst the dumbest braintrust moves in NBA history, which is punishment enough.  We don't want to see dudes (continue to) suck for the next five years.  What are you trying to do, turn them back into the Clippers of old?

Parity Achieved?

Incepting is a fine art.  On one hand, you want to subtlety influence thoughts.  But in doing so, there's the high possibility of what's being relayed not being understood in full or stretched.

Let me give you an idea of what I mean.  I was the first writer, at least that I know of, who was like wait a minute, the Lakers did not have an "A+" offseason.  Right after that post, I noticed the mainstream media began embracing that idea.  But I wasn't like criticizing LAL's roster per se.

Walker Kessler, as it currently stands, is far from an "A-list center", at least in terms of production (tho he's now like a celebrity).  But at least he holds more promise for the franchise than Ayton did.

Or let me say if I were dissing anybody, it wasn't Luka or Kessler or Reaves but rather the braintrust.  Dudes have been striking out for years now.  And even in my last post, when I implied that Doncic is in a worse position (in terms of potentially winning championship) now than he was with the Mavs, let me point out that offensively, he's by far the most-versatile PG in the league.  So the logic would sorta be that yeah, go out there and get him the best 5 you can afford and then fill out the middle, sorta like the Knicks have done, since wings are more or less in abundance these days.

I'm sure I even said this before, that one of the many major mistakes the Lakers have made of late was last year, they should have traded Lebron, not AD, for Luka.  They're fucked up because now, the mythic Lakers' mystique that made the best of the best want to play for the franchise is no longer there.

Being LAL, you're not even supposed to be out there chasing centers type shit.  They rather should want to play for you.  And Wemby just signed like a five-year extension, I'm pretty sure fully guaranteed, so who knows when or if Los Angeles will get the best C in the NBA again.

This is something else I noticed recently.  I was the first writer, at least that I know of, who was like yeah, if Lebron wants to win a championship with one of the teams on his shortlist, the Sixers are the best option.  Then, the mainstream picked up on that also.  Prior to making that statement, they were just as much, if not moreso, advocating the likes of the Nuggets, Heat or Cavs in terms of LBJ bringing home another trophy.

Then when he finally made his decision, I was like, big fun but still, not a guaranteed championship.  After posting that, now the mainstream is questioning 'his fit' in Philly.  But prior to making that statement, it seemed that they were all for it and super excited.

So this is what I wanted to clarify.  Embiid, not Lebron, is the x-factor.  There is one thing I've been saying for like five years straight that the mainstream media never reiterated, sometimes I believe because they're too afraid or perhaps are disallowed from doing so.  LBJ absolutely sucks on defense.  He's an alltime great defensively, you know, when you go back to earlier in the century.  But now, relatively speaking, he's old AF.

They say that, when NBA players start to age, the first thing to go is their athleticism.  But with some players, except those who are really locked in on that end (like Draymond), the first thing to go is rather their defensive awareness.  Go and look at some of Kareem's games later in his career.

I spoke of this many times before, based on my own experiences and observations.  Once dudes start circling 40, you can't really count on them to play defense anymore, nor can you chastise them for not doing so, because you know, they're like elders and shit.

EASTERN TEAMS THAT CAN DEFEAT PHILLY

So the way I see it, there are currently two, maybe three teams (if the Raptors actually get Kawhi) in the East than can defeat Philly, even if the Sixers are at full strength.  First is the Knicks, and I say that with a grain of salt, because losing Mitchell Robinson was indeed a big loss.

You'll notice that the two teams that made the Finals last season, neither was dealing with major injuries.  So here's to hoping that NYK lucks out like that again.

In 2025, when Robinson was injured during the postseason, NYK got upset by the Pacers.  I don't know much about 'the dreaded second apron' and shit like that.  But maybe in this case, you know, after just winning a historic championship, Dolan shoulda just bit the bullet.

The Knicks entered the last couple of seasons with the most all-around talented starting lineup in the NBA, even moreso than OKC.  But now, presuming that Lebron will start and also with the addition of Brown, Philly is more talented offensively.

And here's further testament to just how great James is.  He's made the world more or less forget that, oh shit, Giannis just teamed up with Adebayo, instantly giving the Heat the most potent twin towers in the league and arguably even of the last 40 years, since Olajuwon teamed up with Samson.  Off the top of my head, there's only like three other teams I can think of, maybe four, that currently have viable twin towers.  But unlike the rest, Miami has two 7-footers who are basically wings.

Some years back, I predicted that the NBA will eventually get to the point where you have teams with like five Giannises, you know, like five Garnetts type shit.  The Heat right now are closest to fulfilling that prophecy.  And let's not forget that they have more of a winning culture than the Knicks or Sixers.  Old ass Pat Riley, who deadass coached the Showtime Lakers, is still in the game calling shots.  And they're one of the top three organizations not only in developing talent but getting it to mesh.

THE VALUE OF A GLUE GUY

And let's not forget the Cavs also.  They've been getting dogged a lot of late, and no one really believes in them, understandably so, since they've been one of the deepest teams for like three seasons now but never really achieved shit as a unit.  But that said, finally making to the ECF, they have experienced progress.  And despite losing Dean Wade and perhaps one or two peripheral dudes, it's not like these guys are scrubs.  They have two lock future HOFs, one in his prime - and potentially a third also.

What Cleveland needs is a glue guy at the 3 who can make all of these pieces click which, all things considered, is a formidable task.  And that's an interesting observation, because how many years now have the Cavs needed that 3?  But instead, they're out there trading for PGs and shit.

People sleep on the likes on Josh Hart (and Draymond).  He may never put up the type of stats that rationalize a max contract, but trust me, it's unlikely NYK would have won that championship without him.

When a team is overtalented yet not necessarily compatible, you usually need someone who can make it all click.  If the Cavs had Hart, they could win a championship.

Back when Lebron teamed up with D-Wade and Bosh, that player was Mario Chalmers, who never got his flowers.  When Shaq played with Kobe, the Lakers had a number of glue guys.  But those types that can actually facilitate championships, they're rare, perhaps because they don't get ample love.

You have a better chance making a name for yourself as a chuck than someone willing to sacrifice.  So besides Hart and Green, currently I can't even think of anyone else who Cleveland can slot in there to desired effect.  That's how awkward - for lack of a better word - their starting lineup is.

PARITY ACHIEVED?

Whether or not parity has already been achieved depends on your definition of the word, whether it means everyone being in the middle, or rather everyone potential champions.  We're about to enter a season, for the first time ever that I can think of, with like 10 contenders - at least three in the West (don't sleep on the Rockets) and perhaps even six or seven in the East (don't sleep on the Wizards either).  This should be interesting, you know, if the U.S. doesn't bake and become too hot to even play basketball inside.

AMENDMENT (27 JULY)

In terms of mentioning the best twin towers of the last 40 years, I forget to shoutout Duncan + Robinson.