In early September 2025, Mark Cuban publicly addressed Pablo Torre’s allegations that the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented the salary cap for Kawhi Leonard. The former Dallas Mavericks owner began his lengthy statement by saying that “I’m on Team Ballmer.”
On his show “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” Torre revealed that “Leonard signed a $28 million deal for a ‘no show’ job with a fraudulent tree-planting company funded by $50 million from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.” Cuban appeared on the show to defend Ballmer, stressing that his co-billionaire “isn’t that dumb.” On Wednesday, the NBA announced major punishments for the Clippers and Ballmer, and Cuban had another message for Torre.
Mark Cuban Reacts to NBA’s Punishment for Clippers, Steve Ballmer for Kawhi Leonard Scandal
In his initial defense of Ballmer last year, the former Dallas Mavericks owner explained his reasoning.
“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?” Cuban underscored his point. “They got scammed by Aspiration, along with many others. Crimes for which they pleaded guilty…”
However, the former “Shark Tank” panelist couldn’t resist taking a shot at Torre.
“It’s sad that @PabloTorre didn’t take the time to find out how these scammers pulled off their scam. The idea that the default is Ballmer is the bad guy is going to back fire on him,” Cuban capped off his initial statement.
Now, one year later, the NBA handed down punishments following its investigation. The Clippers have been stripped of five first-round picks, the organization has been fined $30 million, Leonard will have to pay $700,000 in restitution, and Ballmer, Lawrence Frank, and Gillian Zucker have been suspended.
After the news broke, Cuban sent Torre another message. After their initial back-and-forth, Cuban’s reaction to the news was strikingly brief.
“Congrats Pablo,” Cuban said, seemingly conceding defeat.
Congrats Pablo. https://t.co/fOUfnbIlVw
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) September 2, 2026
After a thorough investigation by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, the two-time NBA Finals MVP wasn’t suspended, nor was his contract voided. Now, Leonard’s trade to the Toronto Raptors can go through, and he can put the Aspiration scandal behind him.
The two-word message was a sharp departure from Cuban’s earlier stance, when he repeatedly challenged Torre’s reporting and defended Ballmer against the allegations.
Cuban went head-to-head with Torre on social media about the controversy and agreed to a remote interview a few days after the former ESPN reporter made the allegations. In mid-October, Cuban and Torre had a heated showdown at his studio.
Every step of the way, Cuban questioned Torre’s logic and conclusions. In some instances, the former Mavs longtime owner dripped with sarcasm in his tweets to Torre’s reporting.
Throughout the Cuban-Torre discourse, the billionaire has insisted that his resistance was never a personal attack against the journalist, stressing only that he has the business expertise to comment on the findings and evidence.
For his part, Ballmer was just as insistent that what he and the Clippers did was all above board. He welcomed the NBA’s investigation and denied any involvement in the allegations Torre made during an interview with ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne nearly a year ago.
In the aftermath of the NBA’s announcement, the Clippers fired back with a stern statement making it clear that they plan to challenge the punishment: “We vehemently reject the NBA’s findings, which are the result of a heavily biased investigation seeking to justify a predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence.
“What the league told us privately differs from what it announced today publicly, and they have not held themselves close to the standard Commissioner Silver set at the start of this investigation to ensure it’s fairness and accuracy. For the past year, we cooperated fully and in good faith and we will now fight just as hard to demonstrate our innocence. We intend to vigorously challenge these findings and penalties through every avenue available to us and look forward to an ethical and impartial arbitration process.”
Cuban’s latest message seems to suggest that he’s done defending Ballmer and the Clippers, and instead is ready to admit defeat on this issue.
