Pablo Torre Has His Next Target, And It's LeBron James And His Fanatics Helicopter

Ishika Samant. Getty Images.

Ever since he successfully took down Steve Ballmer and the Clippers for their very clear attempt at cap circumvention when it came to paying Kawhi Leonard, it was only a matter of time before we caught wind of Pablo Torre's next target. I get that people hate on Pablo Torre for ya know, doing his job, and that he does it for clout/views/etc but that never made sense to me. Investigative reporting is important! Who cares if he talks about it on his podcast and gets views or attention? He was right! It felt like there was more pushback towards Pablo Torre for exposing blatant cheating than there was for the organization that was doing the cheating, which always felt a little weird to me. 

So who's up next to be put under the microscope? Knock knock LeBron, the Sixers and Fanatics. Welcome to the hot seat

Now, who do we think one of the NBA owners may be that is asking Pablo Torre to start digging around? Hmmmm, I wonder!

Giphy Images.

At least that's what I'm choosing to believe. Steve Ballmer got hit with the death penalty for his shit, and I have no doubt he knows what's going on with other teams/owners/etc. He probably thinks if he's going down, then they're all going down with him. How about Dan Gilbert and the Cavs? He hates LeBron (or used to at least) and after LeBron turned down another return to the Cavs to sign with the Sixers instead, is it crazy to think he could be one of the owners? Maybe the Heat owners/Pat Riley as well? I think all are viable options. Jeanie Buss and the Lakers? I could see it.

And let's be honest, as a fan the last thing you want to hear is that Pablo Torre is sniffing around your team, looking over your books, getting access to documents etc. Because one thing the Clippers investigation taught us is that once he gets his teeth into something, he never lets up. If there's funny business going on, Pablo Torre and his team are going to find it and expose it for the world to see. 

I'll just say, I'm not so sure there is any sort of illegal funny business going on when it comes to LeBron and his Fanatics helicopter. Remember, the biggest issue with the Clippers was that it was coming from an owner/organization. Michael Rubin sold his ownership stake in the Sixers, so that's not exactly the same thing. In fact, he did it because the NBA basically told him that he could help the Sixers 1000000x more by not being an owner, and we know this because he said so!

“Speaking at the MIT Sloan Conference Friday morning, Rubin quipped that he was ‘violating every rule the NBA had’ while part of the Sixers’ ownership group. That included taking bets on the Sixers when Fanatics entered that space, and having NBA players such as Joel Embiid, James Harden, LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Kevin Durant as Fanatics investors.” 

“To that point, according to multiple sources, the league office recently told Harris that Rubin, freed from the constraints of the league’s collective bargaining agreement and anti-tampering laws, will be able to help the Sixers more than ever.”

Do I think Fanatics/Michael Rubin may have sweetened the pot for LeBron to convince him to sign in Philly? Absofuckinglutely. Do I think that's against the rules? Not really. Not since Rubin gave up his ownership stake. Would I still be nervous that Pablo Torre may find something else? For sure. All it may take is one email, one document, or one person going on the record to bring more to the surface than what we know right now. 

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It would also be very funny if there actually was some illegal funny business going on that all could have been avoided if LeBron just lived in Philly during his Sixers tenure. You can't deny that it would be hilarious if his needing a helicopter in order to immediately take his talents to NYC after practice ended up being something that resulted in the Sixers being another team to get their version of the NBA's death penalty. Imagine they don't win and that happens? 

I'd put it at a 0.0000000001% chance of happening, but it's not 0.0%. When Pablo Torre is on the case, there's always a chance he's going to find something that's going to destroy your franchise for years. Good luck!