Steve Ballmer's firmness and conviction that he is innocent reportedly served as the driving factor that led the NBA to deliver its massive punishment against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Pablo Torre dropped the huge revelations in his appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, with the NBA ultimately reaching an agreement with Kawhi Leonard's camp and the NBA Players' Association.
"This is something that's very interesting that I don't know if people appreciate about what the NBA did when the NBA tried to settle with Steve Ballmer. They said, 'Hey, we have a narrow scope, we have undeniable evidence, we want to just make sure that you have the opportunity to take your punishment, admit wrongdoing, and let us all move on.' Steve Ballmer, according to everything that we've seen now play out in public after that ESPN story two weeks ago, decided to fight, decided to mount his own campaign," Torre said.
"And the NBA said, 'Well, in that case, we're going to do something,' that perhaps caught Steve Ballmer by surprise. They found a way to settle with Kawhi Leonard and the Players Union."
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Steve Ballmer led the Clippers to suffer the worst from Kawhi Leonard, salary cap scandal
Ever since Pablo Torre first reported the Los Angeles Clippers' illegal tactics of manipulating the salary cap to pay Kawhi Leonard, Steve Ballmer has consistently reiterated in multiple ways that he and his franchise did nothing wrong.
Ballmer notably sat down with ESPN's Ramona Shelburne for an interview on SportsCenter, claiming that he was "conned" by Aspirations, the now-defunct green bank company that has been mainly behind the Clippers' cap scandal to cater to Leonard.
Last month, Shelburne even wrote a controversial ESPN article alongside Don Van Natta Jr. and Baxter Holmes, boldly claiming that the league found no evidence showing Ballmer funneled money for Leonard through team sponsors.
In the end, because Ballmer refused to admit his and the Clippers' misconduct that ruined the league's reputation, the franchise suffered a $30 million fine, suspensions, and the loss of five future first-round picks from 2029 to 2033.
Leonard, on the other hand, only received a slap on the wrist, being fined $700,000 for his prominent role in the case where he emerged as an absolute winner.