NBA Commissioner Adam Silver suggested Wednesday that the league’s investigation will need to uncover a lot of evidence, linking the Los Angeles Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer, worth up to $48 million between Kawhi Leonard and the former team sponsor’s desire to get the silver medal to punish the Clippers.
“If we were to honor a team, owner, player or any constituent member, it would be a burden to the league,” Silver said at the end of the NBA board meeting in downtown Manhattan.
“I think, like any process that requires a basic sense of fairness, the burden should be taken, and in essence, it is the party that brings these allegations.”
The NBA may not punish the Clippers without a lot of evidence
After the meeting, Silver also told reporters that he would be “unwilling to act” without specific proof. The alliance needs “overall evidence”, he said, not just “look.”
“As far as these words are read, I think, as a matter of basic fairness, I wouldn’t be willing to act if there is just misconduct. … I think the purpose of a comprehensive investigation is to find out if there is really misconduct,” Silver added.
“In addition, in a public-facing campaign, the public sometimes concluded and then the result was completely wrong. I hope that the others who Mr. Ballmer is in now, or kawhi Leonard, are treated for this, to treat me, and if people make allegations against me, I want to treat me.”
Kawhi Leonard, alleged cut salary cap
Since Leonard accepted $28 million in recognition of “unshowed jobs,” the NBA has begun investigating whether Ballmer and the Clippers have violated league rules, a now-bank tree planting company that Ballmer has invested in the easy-to-use tree planting company.
The allegations surfaced when an unnamed employee told Podcaster Pablo Torre that payments to Leonard were “to circumvent the wage cap.”
Although a thorough investigation of New York law firms Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz will be conducted, “there is no set deadline to find the conclusion.”
Silver reiterated on Wednesday that he “has very broad power in these situations” and it is unclear whether the Clippers must now prove their innocence or whether the burden of proof has landed in the NBA to find misconduct.
