Pablo Torre has taken aim at his former employer ESPN after the network’s reporting on the Clippers’ investigation was contradicted by the NBA’s eventual findings.
ESPN reported in August that the NBA had found no evidence that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer had funnelled money to Kawhi Leonard through team sponsors.
Just weeks later, the NBA announced significant penalties against the Clippers, including five first-round draft picks, a $30 million fine for Ballmer and a one-year suspension for the team’s owner.
Torre, who had spent the past year investigating the Clippers’ dealings through his podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out, was asked about ESPN’s reporting.
His response was pointed.
“All those people on that byline, I know them personally,” Torre said on Breaking Points. “They had the ability to see so much that should have made them pause before publishing that. And I will say that they did not reach out to me for comment.”
Torre said he later provided a comment to ESPN after the story was published, but it was not included.
“Generously, it is something that will haunt them because they did not intend for this,” he said. “Less generously, it speaks to the question: How did you guys not smell this earlier when I have been doing this for a year? Why did you not trust the journalist, but instead trusted the source that leaked it to you?”
Torre’s reporting had alleged for months that the Clippers had circumvented the NBA’s salary cap in connection with Leonard and Aspiration, allegations the Clippers strongly denied.
The NBA’s eventual investigation found violations and resulted in one of the league’s most significant punishments in recent history.
Torre, who worked for ESPN from 2012 to 2023, won a Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting in May of 2026.
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