The discrepancy between ESPN’s report and the NBA’s severe decision on the Los Angeles Clippers has drawn criticism.
ESPN is in hot water after its initial report falsely claimed that the NBA found no evidence that Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer “funneled money through team sponsors” to pay star forward Kawhi Leonard and circumvent the salary cap.
On Wednesday, the NBA handed heavy sanctions to the Clippers following a year-long investigation into the controversy. Ballmer was suspended for a year and ordered to pay a fine of $30 million. The Clippers were also stripped of their first-round picks from 2029 to 2033.
The stiff penalties contradicted ESPN’s initial report, which was written by Don Van Natta Jr., Baxter Holmes, and Ramona Shelburne in August. Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix called out ESPN for going through with it despite only having the side of the Clippers.
“I like our colleagues over at ESPN, but they just swallowed a big bunch of b*******, just a huge bunch of b******* that clearly came from the Clippers,” said Mannix.
“I don’t like to get into media stuff because it’s a hard job. Oftentimes you’re fumbling around in the dark, but you can’t run a story like that when you’re not getting at least a semblance of the picture from the other side.”
Chris Mannix calls out ESPN:
“I like our colleagues over at ESPN, but they just swallowed a big bunch of bullshit that clearly came from the Clippers… You can’t run a story like that when you’re not getting a semblance of the picture from the other side.”
(Via @SInow) pic.twitter.com/atH4NDdmU4
— NBABase (@TheNBABase) September 3, 2026
Mannix acknowledged that the NBA kept mum about its investigation, which made it difficult for media outlets to report on it. Still, he said ESPN could have been more circumspect. The initial report only cited “three people with direct knowledge” of the matter.
“Sometimes they (NBA) don’t cooperate publicly, but they do cooperate privately. They’ll tell you what’s kind of going on behind the scenes. Clearly, they weren’t doing that (here), and that led to one of the more egregious misses that we’re gonna see in NBA reporting,” added Mannix.
As of this writing, ESPN has not issued a retraction or an apology.
ESPN is in hot water after its initial report falsely claimed that the NBA found no evidence that Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer “funneled money through team sponsors” to pay star forward Kawhi Leonard and circumvent the salary cap. On Wednesday, the NBA handed heavy sanctions to the Clippers following a year-long investigation into the controversy.