Another week, another Pablo Torre podcast chalk full of evidence against the Clips.

New News:

- Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested $10m in Aspiration (at double the share price of his first investment) in March 2023. The Clippers (and Ballmer) originally claimed to cease ALL connection with Aspiration in 2022. After Aspiration auditor KPMG quit in July 2022, and CEO Andrei Cherny stepped down (June 2022), investors fled the company. Why did Steve hang around and why did he double the valuation of the company as it was circling the drain?

- Mark Cuban outlined (as part of his Ballmer defense) that it would be much cleaner to launder money into Aspiration by way of purchasing carbon credits than it would to directly invest. Good news! The Clips did just that. The Clips potentially laundered as much as $21m into Aspiration for carbon credits. Pablo Torre reports the entire transaction took a little over two weeks to consumate. An awful quick trigger. The Clips wired the money in April 2022 (the same month Kawhi signs his Aspiration deal).

There’s buckets of evidence beyond the two points above. Those are illustrative of the broader Clippers vs Pablo argument. Here’s what the Court of Public Opinion is asking:

Do you TRUST the Clippers, Kawhi and Aspiration to the extent that no less than $120m in financial transactions were executed cleanly and above board for the sole purpose of carbon sequestration and climate improvement? Are you willing to ignore dozens of suspiciously timed money transfers because the parties involved are more motivated by environmental philanthropy than they are gaining a competitive advantage against the rest of the NBA?

This case will continue to splinter between now and when the NBA publishes the results of their investigation. I, for one, am relentlessly enjoying it. This is one scandal without any material damage in the real world unless you’re a Clipper fan. And if you are? I suggest you lose your NBA TV for a decade.

AFC South. AHAHAHA Do you guys even know who plays in the AFC South? Go ahead. Name all four teams. Don’t peek below:

Titans, 0-2

It’s Cam Ward time in Tennessee and man, his all-22 tape is sparkling! I was always a Titans fan during the Derrick Henry/Mike Vrabel era. They pounded the rock. Nashville was an ascendant real estate market. Life was good! A couple down years later and maybe Cam Ward can get this team to 7 wins before they open their new stadium in 2027.

Texans, 0-2

To me, the Texans have never recovered from their Original Sin of an awful team name. The uniforms are non-descript. The stadium has all the originality as the rest of Houston. None. CJ Stroud and Nico Collins will try to rescue the offense, but there isn’t enough talent in this building for 11 wins. As reigning division champs, perhaps they deserve 2% more respect. Go get it somewhere else. Not coming from KMARK. Demeco Ryan better limp to 9 wins this year, because if he doesn’t, he’ll follow Bob Saleh as another failed 49er D-Coordinator turned HC of an AFC team that has a trash offense and underdelivers and their intensity turns the locker room against them and they’re employed by impatient owners who fire them. Could happen.

Jaguars, 1-1

The Jags are trying to Rams their way to success. They’ve hired Sean McVay protege Liam Cohen as HC. They poached Wonder Boy James Gladstone from LA to be GM. Then they lost to the Bengals after Joe Burrow got hurt. Life is a bumpy road. I don’t like Cohen and QB Trevor Lawrence already bickering during games. Not the energy I expect from Duval County. This team should never offer seriousness. They should play on a floating field in the middle of a wide intercoastal. All fans should watch from boats. They’ll win 8 games this year.

Colts, 2-0

Media darlings. Dan “Danny Dimes” Daniel Jones is SIZZLING through two games. Shane Steichen suddenly appears to know what he’s doing! Fresh off a Pacers run to the Finals, Indianapolis is the sports capital of the world. The Colts are new Vikings. They’ve resurrected a former NY QB and paired him with competent coaches, offensive lineman, playmakers, and a defense. After watching Sam Darnold thrive last year, they should have all the excitement watching Jones lead this team to 12 wins. I’m for it. They might even beat the Chargers in round 1 of the playoffs before being obliterated by the Bills/Ravens.