Board man got paid, and where did that get the Clippers?

The Clippers reportedly paid Kawhi Leonard under the table.

When Kawhi Leonard was at San Diego State carrying on about how the "board man gets paid," I don't imagine he saw those checks becoming the focus of an investigation into potential salary cap circumvention, but here we are.

In the latest bombshell report from the team at Pablo Torre Finds Out, it was revealed that Leonard signed a $28 million "no-show" endorsement deal with a company funded by Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. And Leonard reportedly didn't have to do anything to receive that money. In other words, the company may have been used as a way to pay Leonard more than the NBA salary cap allowed during his latest extension in 2021, according to the reporting.

That's obviously a big no-no that could lead to potential punishment from the NBA.

They say if you aren't cheating you aren't trying, and Ballmer clearly lives by that mantra if this all turns out to be true. I have to say, though, it's hard to blame anyone connected to the Clippers for thinking they might need to cheat to get ahead. They've been around 55 years and haven't so much as sniffed an NBA Finals. They're a team that just never seems to catch a break.

Unfortuntately, this alleged attempt to circumvent the cap falls right in line with that narrative. Let's not forget how Leonard got to LA in the first place. The Clippers lured him by agreeing to trade for Paul George, which cost them Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. In the six years since, LA has won just three playoff series. SGA, on the other hand, is the reigning league and finals MVP who just won four series last postseason alone. LA might have cheated itself out of a title instead of into one.

Being a Clippers fan sounds miserable. If the NBA digs into this report, board man getting paid might just make it more miserable in the near future.

Charles Barkley likes the 2nd apron

You won't find too many supporters of the NBA collective bargaining agreement's restrictive second-tax apron, but count Charles Barkley among them.

Anyone familiar with his feelings about star players teaming up, however, won't be very surprised by the reason why he likes it: "If y'all stopped all wanting to play together, we wouldn't have to make up bogus ass rules to stop y'all from playing together."

I don't think Barkley thought this one through. The worst part of the second apron isn't that it prevents the formation of super teams. It's that it prevents organically built team of really good players from staying together longer.

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