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“I'm just so happy,” Hachimura said. “The Clippers are an amazing organization. Even when talking to other NBA players, they always rave about how great the Clippers organization is. It's truly a player-first team, you know. They take care of their players while having that winning mentality. The Clippers are a young team. A year ago, they were called the oldest team in the league, but they've transitioned to a younger generation especially with Kawhi Leonard getting traded. Joining them right as they build this next generation is huge for me, and I'm incredibly excited.”
New York has been conservative with allowing helipads on tops of buildings since 1977, when a helicopter tipped over while attempting to land on the MetLife building in Midtown Manhattan. Some remain, but they are not for commercial use; instead, they are allowed for hospitals or police. Though he has yet to change the city’s policies, New York mayor Zohran Mamdani campaigned on further restrictions for air travel, saying last April that “we must end non-essential helicopter flights immediately.” Conditions must be ideal. Visibility is the most common reason for helicopter delays or cancellations. And remember, the environment around James matters here. LA Clippers wing Kawhi Leonard famously commuted from San Diego via helicopter, while Kobe Bryant choppered from his home in Orange County, Calif., to Los Angeles Lakers games. But that was in Southern California, where skies are clearer than they are in the Northeast. Fog is common in the New York-to-Philadelphia corridor, especially in the mornings.
NBABase: The Raptors are refusing to complete the trade for Kawhi Leonard because they are unwilling to take on the risk of potential NBA penalties, per @ramonashelburne "They are not willing to assume those risks."
NBABase: Steve Ballmer is expected to aggressively fight the NBA legally if penalties are levied against him in the Kawhi Leonard investigation, per @VinceGoodwill "Steve Ballmer can lawyer up as well as anybody."
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Oh No He Didn't: Baxter Holmes on the Kawhi/Clippers investigation: "I think the NBA wants to get this right. People have said to me all throughout that Adam Silver has forecast that in all his comments about how the burden of proof is on the league, that we're gonna follow the facts. They wanna be thorough so that at the end of the day, this process can look fair, transparent, accurate and that everybody can feel at peace with what happened"
Oh No He Didn't: Ramona Shelburne on whether the Raptors would back out of the Kawhi trade: "I haven't heard them trying to back out. I think the discussion is more of a league wide discussion which is when you have a trade that gets held up, whether it's a failed physical or something like that you can modify the trade"
Oh No He Didn't: Ramona Shelburne on the Kawhi/Clippers investigation: "I can see a world in which Kawhi Leonard is back on the Clippers if this trade doesn't go through and the Clippers quite frankly are fine with that"
Josh Lewenberg: Given the recent discourse and length of investigation, I can understand the skepticism but reality is the likelihood of Kawhi becoming a Raptor hasn't changed. Would still take a massive penalty (void contract or max suspension) to jeopardize the trade. Possible but don't see it. Voiding the contract would punish the league as much as it would punish Kawhi, and the only players who have ever been suspended 30+ games either punched a fan or brought guns into the locker room. NBA would need to build one hell of a case against Kawhi to drop the hammer on him. As I noted yesterday, Raptors wouldn't necessarily need to wait on arbitration for the trade to be completed. If they're comfortable inheriting whatever Kawhi discipline the league hands down, they could theoretically sign off on the deal (or renegotiate) before appeals are heard.
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Former Los Angeles Clippers center Daniel Theis has emerged as another NBA figure connected to Rhode Island FC amid Pablo Torre's ongoing investigation into Kawhi Leonard's business relationships. On the latest episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out, Torre highlighted that Rhode Island FC publicly welcomed Theis into its ownership group in March 2023. The connection attracted attention because, according to Torre's reporting, Leonard, his uncle and business adviser Dennis Robertson, and Leonard's former agent Mitch Frankel also acquired ownership interests in the soccer club – but their involvement was never publicly promoted by RIFC. There is no evidence presented in the podcast that Theis committed any wrongdoing or that his investment was connected to the LA Clippers.
The NBA investigation into whether the LA Clippers circumvented the salary cap to pay Kawhi Leonard could drag into 2027 if the parties don't agree on the findings or any proposed settlement that involves punishing the team, sources with knowledge of the case told ESPN on Wednesday. Sources close to the National Basketball Players Association with knowledge of the investigation said the union wouldn't hesitate to take the matter to arbitration if the NBA sought penalties without sufficient evidence proving the claim that the Clippers have denied since the league's probe began nearly 10 months ago.
