It was Pablo Torre’s Pulitzer-winning story on the Los Angeles Clippers’ alleged cap circumvention that kickstarted the NBA’s investigation. After the NBA concluded that investigation and dropped the hammer on Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, Torre doesn’t seem too satisfied with the punishment.
Appearing on The Dan Patrick Show, Torre expressed disappointment that Ballmer was fined $30 million on top of all of the other punishments he and the team received. Torre pointed out that Ballmer has a net worth of $145 billion, so it’s not going to feel so massive for him.
“I thought that it could’ve been more. I think that it’s two things: The biggest punishment that we’ve ever seen for an owner in major American sports, when you account for the fact that it’s Steve Ballmer banned from the building for a year, his head of business banned for a year, his head of basketball banned for six months…” Torre said.
“$30 million dollars is, you know, change for a guy with $145 billion…”
But while it may seem like a small amount of money for a man whose net worth could probably buy most of the other NBA owners put together, there are still limits to how much the league can legally take from him.
Lest we forget, it wasn’t too long that $2 million was the maximum fine that the NBA could inflict on an owner.
Getty Images.
Future of the Clippers
With their owner banned for a year, a number of high ranking executives also sanctioned and the loss of five first-round draft picks, the Clippers are going to be in a rough spot for a while.
The organization has pledged to fight the NBA in court over their punishment and it’s likely that the two sides will be in court for years over this.
But the organization’s name is now mud and might even be a no-go zone for free agents and other would-be stars for a good while.
