Los Angeles Clippers logo on the court at the Intuit Dome.
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images.
The recent report published by ESPN about the Los Angeles Clippers‘ Steve Ballmer and Kawhi Leonard was controversial, but one of the reporters bylined on the article has spoken out.
Puck News' John Ourand corresponded with ESPN's Don Van Natta Jr. through email (via Tom Ziller). Van Natta stood by the story, writing, “Accuracy is critical, and we hold ourselves to the highest standard. We believe readers who judge the facts of our Aug. 17 story against the specifics released in the report two weeks later will see that we accurately reflected the status and direction of the NBA's investigation at the time of publishing.”
ESPN reported that the NBA “found no evidence showing LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer funneled money through team sponsors to pay Kawhi Leonardo in order to circumvent the salary cap.”
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However, the Wachtell Lipton report said that the Clippers “violated the circumvention rules in numerous independent ways.” Van Natta still stood by ESPN's report, saying, “We reported that the NBA had found no evidence Steve Ballmer funneled money through Aspiration to Kawhi Leonard. The report confirmed this: It did not identify direct evidence, and that allegation was not a central focus.”
That isn't exactly what the story reported, though. Ziller pointed out a couple of paragraphs from the story that showed the true scope of the investigation. Van Natta indicated that the NBA didn't find evidence on Aspiration, but ESPN reported that there wasn't evidence Ballmer funneled money through other companies, such as Daktronics and Boingo Wireless.
ESPN reported that there wasn't “evidence” of Ballmer funneling money to Leonard. However, the NBA handed the Clippers a huge punishment after Watchell, Lipton, and Rosen & Katz's investigation. The Clippers forfeited five first-round picks, Ballmer was suspended for a year, and the team was fined $30 million. Leonard had to pay $700,000 for his part.