Silver: Burden on NBA to show violation by Clips

NEW YORK -- It volition beryllium up to the NBA to beryllium wrongdoing during its probe of imaginable wage headdress circumvention by the LA Clippers, proprietor Steve Ballmer and prima Kawhi Leonard, league commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday.

"The load is connected the league if we're going to subject a team, an owner, a subordinate oregon immoderate constituent members of the league," Silver said during his yearly quality league astatine the decision of the league's Board of Governors meetings successful midtown Manhattan. "I deliberation arsenic with immoderate process that requires a cardinal consciousness of fairness, the load should beryllium connected the enactment that is, successful essence, bringing those charges."

Silver said the league needs to look "at the totality of the evidence" alternatively than conscionable "mere appearance."

"Just by the mode those words read, I deliberation arsenic a substance of cardinal fairness, I would beryllium reluctant to enactment if determination was benignant of a specified quality of impropriety. ... I deliberation that the extremity of a afloat probe is to find retired if determination truly was impropriety. Also, successful a public-facing sport, the nationalist astatine times reaches conclusions that aboriginal crook retired to beryllium wholly false. I'd privation anybody other successful the concern Mr. Ballmer is successful now, oregon Kawhi Leonard for that matter, to beryllium treated the aforesaid mode I would privation to beryllium treated if radical were making allegations against me."

The league has already begun an probe into whether Ballmer and the Clippers violated league rules due to the fact that Leonard accepted a $28 cardinal endorsement for a "no-show job" from Aspiration, a now-bankrupt greenish banking institution successful which Ballmer had invested.

The allegations first came retired past week erstwhile an unnamed worker who purportedly worked for Aspiration told podcaster Pablo Torre that the outgo to Leonard "was to circumvent the wage cap."

Sources told ESPN that portion determination volition beryllium a thorough probe of the substance by New York-based instrumentality steadfast Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen and Katz, determination is nary acceptable deadline to find a conclusion.

There has been a steadfast magnitude of statement astir whether immoderate determination by Silver -- who reaffirmed Wednesday that helium has "very wide powers successful these situations" -- would beryllium dictated by whether the Clippers would person to beryllium their innocence, oregon if the load of impervious was alternatively connected the NBA to find wrongdoing.

Silver made it wide it volition beryllium the latter.

"I've been astir the league agelong capable successful antithetic permutations of allegations and accusations that I'm a large believer successful owed process and fairness, and we request to present fto the probe tally its course," Silver said.

Silver besides said that's the sentiment of Ballmer's chap owners.

"At slightest what's being said to maine is simply a preservation of judgment," Silver said. "I deliberation radical admit that that's what you person a league bureau for. That's what you person a commissioner for -- idiosyncratic who is autarkic of the teams. On 1 hand, of course, I enactment collectively for the 30 governors, but I person an autarkic work to beryllium the steward of the marque and the integrity of this league.

"At slightest what those governors person said straight to me. To the grade we person had discussions [with the committee of governors] -- they've been constricted -- we communicated to them that we engaged Wachtell to bash this investigation. And possibly I chopped disconnected immoderate further conversations and said, 'Let's each withhold judgment, let's bash this probe and past we volition travel backmost to you successful presumption of our findings.'"

Silver besides deed upon a fewer different league topics Wednesday:

ALL-STAR GAME FORMAT: Silver said the extremity is to person the caller All-Star Game format successful spot by the commencement of the regular season. He did corroborate it volition beryllium shifting to a three-team format featuring 16 American players and 8 internati...