Articles from September 2025

Steve Ballmer Breaks Silence On Kawhi Leonard, Clippers Allegations

San Antonio Spurs v Los Angeles Clippers - Game Seven
(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

NBA fans around the league were stunned by a recent jaw-dropping report that stated the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented salary cap rules with Kawhi Leonard.

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer claims that he was just as shocked as everyone else, and denied any fault on Thursday evening.

“Pablo’s podcast, I don’t know anything about the court documents on this. I haven’t seen them and I don’t know. I really don’t know. The speculation is what it is. These are guys who committed fraud. They conned me. I made an investment in these guys,” Ballmer said on ESPN.

Ballmer knows this isn’t the end of the story, but he is ready to defend himself, his staff, and his team.

Torre’s theory is that this was a way for the Clippers to pay Leonard more money than salary cap rules would allow.

Ballmer states that simply isn’t the case and claims that he was conned by the company, just like others were.

But just because he made this defiant statement doesn’t mean the scandal is going away.

If anything, it’s only heating up, and now the NBA is officially investigating.

If they find that the team did something wrong, they could slap them with severe penalties.

Ballmer and his team might have to pay millions, they could lose draft picks, and contracts could be voided.

Ballmer himself could be suspended if the league determines he was involved.

A lot is riding on this investigation, and Ballmer is trying to get out ahead of it, stating his innocence and claiming the team knew nothing.

However, the league is now looking into these allegations, and the judgment could be harsh.

The post Steve Ballmer Breaks Silence On Kawhi Leonard, Clippers Allegations appeared first on The Cold Wire.

Dwight Howard Opens Up About 2020 Lakers Exit

Denver Nuggets v Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Dwight Howard’s relationship with the Los Angeles Lakers is complicated, to put it gently.

His first run with the team didn’t work out as expected, and it became the subject of a lot of controversy.

But his second stint with the Lakers was very successful and resulted in a championship in 2020.

He left right after the 2019-20 season, but, according to Howard, he was supposed to join the team again and help them defend their title.

“I was told that there was a contract and then I was so happy that I heard I was coming back, I tweeted about it and my agent called me back and said, ‘Hey. The Lakers took the contract off the table. You gotta take that tweet down.’ I was like, ‘Damn! Why would they do that?,” Howard said, via Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson.

A lot of Lakers fans were unhappy with how the team broke apart shortly after their latest championship.

Instead of keeping the roster together, the front office started to make changes, and the team looked radically different in only a couple of years.

Howard was one of the players who left the Lakers, even though he didn’t want to.

During the 2019-20 season, Howard put up 7.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

He was a crucial bench player and one of the reasons why the Lakers were able to push through the playoffs and earn their 17th banner.

Howard was truly happy with the team and excited to stay with them, but the front office had other plans.

That was one of the many questionable moves made by the team, but it didn’t have to be that way.

Howard wished to stay and was ready to share good news with his fans, but the Lakers got in the way of that.

The post Dwight Howard Opens Up About 2020 Lakers Exit appeared first on The Cold Wire.

Latest Odds Reveal Betting Favorites To Land Russell Westbrook

Los Angeles Clippers v Denver Nuggets - Game Seven
(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Russell Westbrook’s future in the NBA is still up in the air, and no one knows where he will go.

In fact, some people believe he won’t even be in the league when the new season begins next month.

According to ProphetX, the Sacramento Kings currently have the best odds of receiving Westbrook.

They have -140 odds, followed by the Dallas Mavericks with +250, and the Golden State Warriors with +350.

Behind them are the Xinjiang Flying Tigers from China, who have +1000 odds.

Xinjiang’s odds might grow in the weeks ahead, because it feels that Westbrook’s chances of being in the league in 2025-26 are shrinking.

Recent reports have said the Kings are realistically the only team willing to offer Westbrook a deal.

If he decides he doesn’t want it, he might not have another option in the NBA.

That means that Westbrook might not be playing at the start of the season for the first time in years, which would be a stunning development for the former MVP.

But even if he says no to the Kings, Westbrook could come back later in the season, when teams are a bit more desperate and the state of the league has come into focus.

NBA fans may not have seen the last of Westbrook, even if free agency ends without a resolution.

There was a time when the thought of Westbrook playing overseas sounded outlandish and nearly impossible, but times have changed, and there is a real chance of him packing his bags and playing in a foreign league.

Options are dwindling, and time is running out for Westbrook.

The post Latest Odds Reveal Betting Favorites To Land Russell Westbrook appeared first on The Cold Wire.

P.J. Washington Has 3-Word Message After Contract Extension

Dallas Mavericks v Memphis Grizzlies - Play-In Tournament
(Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)

The Dallas Mavericks have been very happy with what they’ve seen from PJ Washington, and so they are keeping him around for the foreseeable future.

According to Shams Charania, the Mavericks and Washington agreed to a four-year, $90 million extension.

On social media, Washington responded to this great news and seems very happy and thankful for the new deal.

“God is God,” Washington posted on X.

The news of Washington’s extension wasn’t that surprising.

When the offseason began, there were many rumors about him staying with the Mavericks, even though the context of a deal wasn’t known.

2025-26 was set to be the final season of Washington’s contract with Dallas, but it’s now been pushed back by several years.

Washington hasn’t been with the Mavericks for long, but he’s already made a strong impact.

During his first full season with Dallas, he averaged 14.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game on 45.3 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from deep.

His offensive skills have really come in handy for the Mavericks and will be even more important in the new year, which will be the team’s first season without Luka Doncic.

But Washington is more than a strong shooter, and he has also been hailed for his defensive power.

In short, Washington is the whole package, and his output has already helped Dallas.

2025-26 could be filled with many more opportunities for Washington, because his team might be calling on him more often.

With self-belief and this new deal, Washington is going to enter the year with even more confidence.

The post P.J. Washington Has 3-Word Message After Contract Extension appeared first on The Cold Wire.

Dwyane Wade Calls Out Mark Cuban For 2006 Championship Comments

NBA Finals Game 6: Miami Heat v Dallas Mavericks
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Mark Cuban says he will always believe that the 2006 NBA Finals were stolen from his Dallas Mavericks.

Dwyane Wade isn’t happy about that and is now pushing back on Cuban’s claim.

Wade fired back at Cuban and defended himself and his Miami Heat, who took down the Mavericks in six games.

“Mark Cuban come out recently and said, ‘2006 was rigged.’ You’re not about to tarnish the work I put in as a young guy, to do something not a lot of young guys have done in this game and say it’s rigged. Mark, stop that. Y’all got us. We got y’all. It’s all love,” Wade said.

Over the years, there has been a growing conspiracy theory that states referees favored the Heat in the 2006 Finals.

Why would they do that?

According to fans, the league was supportive of Wade, who was a rising star making a name for himself.

The idea of Wade and Shaquille O’Neal winning a title was just too tantalizing for the league, according to some people.

Cuban is one of those people, and he hasn’t backed down from his opinion.

He feels that the refs blew their whistles in ways that helped the Heat and hurt the Mavericks.

He has even called out two game officials and said they were not-so-secretly working together to find fouls against Dallas.

There is good news for both Cuban and Wade, because the Mavericks won a championship in 2011, getting their revenge against Miami.

In the end, Cuban and Wade both ultimately got what they wanted.

These two may never see eye-to-eye when it comes to this subject, but it looks like Wade is attempting to keep things cordial in the disagreement.

The post Dwyane Wade Calls Out Mark Cuban For 2006 Championship Comments appeared first on The Cold Wire.

Details Emerge About Kawhi Leonard’s Demands In Toronto

2019 NBA Finals - Game Five
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

The allegations leveled at Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers are serious, and a punishment could be severe.

The team and Leonard deny any wrongdoing, but a report about Leonard’s time with the Toronto Raptors casts some doubt on that.

John Gambadoro claims that prior to his exit from Toronto, Leonard asked the team’s owner for more money via endorsement deals.

“Kawhi Leonard reportedly asked Toronto’s owner Larry Tanenbaum to line up an extra $15M in endorsements when deciding his free agency,” Gambadoro said.

This sounds strikingly similar to what happened with Leonard, the Clippers, and the now-shuttered company Aspiration.

Leonard was being paid a lot by the Clippers, but he made $7 million more on the side through a no-show endorsement deal with Aspiration.

Whether or not that circumvented the league’s salary cap rules is up for debate, and the NBA is now investigating.

But the fact that Leonard reportedly asked for this arrangement in Toronto makes some people question any claims of innocence.

It’s not uncommon for players to demand stipulations from teams, and they can receive a lot, up to a point.

However, the reporting about the Clippers and Aspiration says this was more than simple demands and instead was a strategic attempt to break the rules.

The NBA is surely considering this claim about Leonard and the Raptors.

They are going to dig into financial records, interviews, and a lot more in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

This story continues to grow, and it threatens to throw the Clippers and their goals into complete disarray just weeks before the new season begins.

If the NBA decides that Leonard and the Clippers avoided their rules, they could make 2025-26 incredibly painful for everyone involved.

The post Details Emerge About Kawhi Leonard’s Demands In Toronto appeared first on The Cold Wire.

Kevin Durant Fires Back At Charles Barkley’s ‘Superteam’ Comments

Sacramento Kings v Phoenix Suns
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Charles Barkley recently had a conversation about the NBA, luxury taxes, and the dreaded second apron.

He blamed superteams like the Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors for the second apron, saying it was put in place because so many big-name players wanted to compete together.

He specifically called out Kevin Durant, who is now responding to Barkley’s claim.

“Ooh since we’re playing the blame game, I select Bob Myers as the fall guy,” Durant posted on X.

The second apron punishes teams that pay a certain amount of money per season.

It’s a way to prevent franchises from compiling the best and most expensive players in the league.

Durant doesn’t want to be blamed for his move to the Warriors and instead thinks that former general manager Bob Myers is the one who should take responsibility.

But he ultimately doesn’t feel that anybody did anything wrong, and Golden State was smart to put the team together.

The debate around the Warriors continues even many years after Durant walked away from the team.

For a few years, they were the most fearsome and intimidating squad in the league, scoring two championship wins and dominating their opponents.

However, some people look back with disdain for the team because they feel it was unfairly assembled.

These days, a team like that simply isn’t possible because it would cost too much, and the second apron would get in the way.

Analysts like Barkley will debate with players like Durant about the validity and fairness of the second apron and why it was created.

This conversation isn’t going away anytime soon.

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Mark Cuban Makes His Thoughts Clear About Clippers Accusations

2025 NBA Summer League - Dallas Mavericks v San Antonio Spurs
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Steve Ballmer and the Los Angeles Clippers find themselves at the center of a scandal right now, but Mark Cuban isn’t buying it.

The Dallas Mavericks icon spoke about Ballmer and accusations of the Clippers circumventing the NBA’s salary cap in order to give Kawhi Leonard more money.

He feels that Ballmer and the whole Clippers organization were scammed by Aspiration, the company that gave Leonard the money and then went bankrupt.

“I’m on Team Ballmer. As much as I wish they circumvented the salary cap, First Steve isn’t that dumb. If he did try to feed KL money, knowing what was at stake for him personally, and his team, do you think he would let the company go bankrupt ? Knowing all creditors would be visible to the world ? They got scammed by Aspiration, along with many others. Crimes for which they pleaded guilty last week. Scammers do scammy things. They did a $300m sponsorship deal with the clippers in 2021. That’s a HUGE deal. The better the team does , the more value the sponsorship has. It actually makes perfect sense that if they stole money from investors and want the clippers to succeed, why not give stolen money to help keep their best player ?” Cuban posted on X.

Cuban’s view is certainly plausible, and it’s possible that Aspiration took advantage of the team.

Ballmer and his staff may not have done anything wrong.

But it seems that the majority of people believe that something fishy was happening behind the scenes and that the Clippers did avoid the rules in order to get Leonard money and keep him in Los Angeles.

For now, it’s all speculation and opinion, because a formal investigation has just begun.

The only opinions that really matter are those of Adam Silver and his staff.

If they find that the Clippers acted improperly, they could face serious consequences, and the team’s management could be tainted for years to come.

Ballmer and his team might have Cuban’s support, but that ultimately doesn’t mean anything to the league.

The post Mark Cuban Makes His Thoughts Clear About Clippers Accusations appeared first on The Cold Wire.

Charles Barkley Reveals Honest Thoughts On Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

2025 NBA Finals - Game Four
(Photo by Kyle Terada – Pool/Getty Images)

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder is now an MVP, Finals MVP, and NBA champion.

He is clearly one of the best players in the league with the right sort of temperament to win.

Charles Barkley spoke about Gilgeous-Alexander and compared him to Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James.

Barkley said that Gilgeous-Alexander is “great” but also stated that he isn’t “dangerous” like Jordan and Bryant were.

Instead, he’s a “nice guy” like James.

“The three best players I’ve ever seen are Michael [Jordan], Kobe [Bryant], and LeBron [James], and I’ll tell you the difference between the three. Michael and Kobe were dangerous. They will kill your a–. LeBron is a nice guy, and that’s not a knock. He’s still great, great, great, but he’s a nice guy. Michael and Kobe weren’t nice guys. They’re different. The one thing about OKC, even though I think Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] is a great, great player. To me, he’s more like LeBron. He’s a really nice guy. He’s not out there trying to kill you,” Barkley said of Gilgeous-Alexander.

Whether he’s nice or not, Gilgeous-Alexander is a champion, and that counts for a lot.

He has found a way to beat the best teams in the league and win it all, and he has done so while being friendly with his teammates and peers.

Gilgeous-Alexander and James have proven that players don’t have to be harsh or cuthroat in order to be champions.

This approach works and is just as valid as being ruthless and aiming to “kill” opponents.

Gilgeous-Alexander is still young, and he could change the way he plays.

Perhaps he will become more of a killer in the future, like Jordan and Bryant.

But even if he doesn’t, no one can dispute that he’s one of the best in the game right now and is a favorite to become a champion again.

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