Pablo Torre Blasts ESPN for Publishing a ‘Clippers‑Fed’ Story on Steve Ballmer

Pablo Torre has just about finished his marathon, year‑long probe into the Los Angeles Clippers – a probe that ended with a $30 million NBA fine and the loss of five first‑round draft picks. But while the league was busy doling out punishment, another drama unfolded, this one in the newsroom.

In mid‑August ESPN ran a story – penned by three of its top reporters – that basically said the NBA’s investigation found no proof that owner Steve Ballmer had funneled money to Kawhi Leonard. To many readers, that sounded like a clean‑slate for Ballmer, a hint that Torre’s painstaking reporting might have been busted.

The NBA itself was quick to push back. Within hours the league issued a statement calling the ESPN piece “inaccurate and misleading,” insisting the findings were far from a blanket exoneration.

Fast‑forward to Thursday’s appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, where Torre didn’t mince words. He told host Dan Patrick that, according to his own sources, ESPN was essentially fed a story by the Clippers – a story the team likely knew was false.

“What ESPN did was they were handed a narrative by the Clippers that the Clippers may have known wasn’t true,” Torre said, pausing for effect before adding, “Maybe they believed it because the Clippers looked you in the eye for months, saying ‘that clout‑chasing podcaster is lying.’”

Torre also recounted how ESPN offered him a chance to comment after the Ballmer story ran, only to drop his statement entirely. “I was told, ‘If you want a comment, we’ll include it,’” he recalled. “For whatever reason, they didn’t. I’m not looking for an apology – I’m a big boy – but it’s frustrating to be implicated by a piece that had no alternative explanation.”

He explained that his omitted comment would have simply reiterated his show’s confidence in its reporting, noted that they were still waiting for the NBA’s final ruling, and promised to keep digging into Leonard and the Clippers.

When Awful Announcing reached out for comment, ESPN declined to discuss the original Ballmer story.

Regardless of the newsroom kerfuffle, Torre’s investigation stands. The fine and draft‑pick penalties remain on the table, and the Clippers’ reputation continues to wobble under the weight of the allegations. Whether ESPN will rethink its sourcing practices remains to be seen, but Torre’s take is clear: sometimes a story gets handed to a network, and the network runs it without enough scrutiny.