PTFO The NBA was looking forward to settling and negotiating down the Clippers' punishment The Clippers fundamentally refused to settle and undercut the investigation at every turn giving the version of their defense to ESPN as the NBA's findings

Pablo Torre says the NBA approached Steve Ballmer told him they found wrongdoing and tried to get him to admit to it and accept the punishment Instead Ballmer chose to fight it so the NBA turned around and found a way to settle the matter with Kawhi and the NBPA

Quotes from Brian Windhorst Tim MacMahon Zach Lowe Chris Mannix and Jon Krawczynski describing how Clippers acted and lied personally to the media during the investigation Krawczynski It was a behind the scenes ferocious defense that was accusatory to anyone who dared question them

Amin On NBA denial of ESPN article It probably did contain significant inaccuracies Based on our reporting Pablo Torre Finds Out I found it hard to believe I thought this sounds like the Clippers We've been reporting since September the NBA has never come out with a statement like that

Pablo Torre in the wake of the Clippers' severe punishment reveals there are still more pieces of the ClippersKawhi Leonard situation that he knows about and that his investigation isnt over yet There is more to come than is in the NBAs report This is not everything

Pablo Torre on the ESPN report regarding the negotiations between Steve Balmer and the NBA This is typically not how investigations work whether in the criminal justice system or in journalism The subject of the investigation does not get to negotiate with the group that is doing the investigatin

Wachtell on why the investigation took so long This effort was challenged by the approach of the Clippers and their outside counsel who at times delayed in responding to requests for information and operated in an adversarial or obfuscatory manner that slowed the ability to gather the facts