Former Bucks Owner Defends Clippers' Steve Ballmer Over Kawhi Leonard Controversy

The NBA world has been captivated by the Clippers/Aspiration scandal that broke last week. Right now, the NBA is investigating possible cap circumvention by the Clippers involving six-time All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard.

It's a wild story that was reported by The Athletic's Pablo Torre and his team that could have major ramifications in the NBA this season. Adam Silver said that the league is looking into it.

Former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry has some thoughts on the whole thing. He actually came out and defended Ballmer from these allegations, believing he has done nothing wrong.

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Lasry doesn't believe that Ballmer could be dumb enough to try something like this, and said so to CNBC's Alex Sherman in an recent interview.

“It’s not something I would ever believe. I’ve known Steve a long time and I’ve known his partner [Clippers minority owner] Dennis [Wong] a long time. I’ve always found them to be honorable and gentlemen,” Lasry said.

Lasry believes that everyone tries to push the envelope, but he doesn't believe Ballmer willingly broke the rules.

“In the NBA, everybody knows the rules," Lasry added. "You follow it, and it’s because you know that if you don’t, you’re just going to get in a lot of trouble."

Just because someone has known someone a long time doesn't mean that person can't do bad things. The evidence that Torre has found certainly raises some red flags.

“I think it’s probably a lot of smoke, but I don’t think there’s much there,” said Lasry.

The Bucks will be eager to see if any punishment comes for the Clippers

Milwaukee and every other team in the league will be watching this situation very closely to see how the NBA deals with it. If there is a light punishment, there will be no incentive for other teams to follow the rules.

If there is too harsh of a punishment without proper proof that something happened, that would also set a dangerous precedent. It's a fine line that the NBA will have to walk.

There is no indication when this investigation will be finished. The allegations were just levied last week, so this is something that could take a while. It would be shocking if it was wrapped up before the season started.