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How Soft are These NBA Owners Who Dry Snitched to Pablo Torre About LeBron’s Helicopter?
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This was annoying to see:
“I know that Fanatics logo. I saw that. I was also a little mad I didn’t get to get that one first. On that story specifically, I would say we are very interested. We are, of course, looking into all of the ways that it is both a good story, as well as something of interest to the league. And by the way, it may not be the latter. It does appear to be the former, as a business story. We’re also getting tips from NBA owners who are sending me your story and being like, ‘what is this?’ Because now I’m the the guy who seems to be a lever on something like accountability, even among billionaires, which is a fun plot twist.”
There are three things to address here.
1) We’re going to have to bookmark the FOS story for frequent citation. It says that the helicopter use is part of LeBron’s Fanatics deal, which was signed in 2024, long before he agreed to join the Sixers. If there’s a general accusation of salary cap circumvention here, it would seem to be flimsy because LeBron has been working with Michael Rubin’s company for almost three years now. He’s done a trading card product launch, for instance, in addition to actually showing up at stuff like Fanatics Fest, so we’re under this general understanding, that unlike Kawhi Leonard, LeBron has actually done things for Fanatics as part of this deal. That would seemingly eliminate this vague thought that LeBron signed what’s known as a “no-show” contract to bolster his veteran minimum signing while skirting the cap.
2) Torre did a really nice job with the Clippers thing. Full credit to the man. But now what, he’s the unofficial arbiter of all things NBA? He mentions this at the end of the clip, and while it’s somewhat funny, it’s also cheesy. Every time something happens that could be construed as any kind of violation, they’re gonna throw out the Pablo Torre bat signal and ask this guy to come swooping in to launch an investigation.
3) Coincidentally, that seems to be what the people at the very top are doing here. It’s not just dipshit NBA fans on Twitter twisting linear thoughts into conspiracy theories. “We’re also getting tips from NBA owners,” Torre tells Front Office Sports, which means that these guys are dry snitching. It’s not whistle blowing. They’re anonymous and lurking. Whistle blowing suggests that there are ethical concerns to all of this, that LeBron’s helicopter usage amounts to some nefarious attempt to bend the rules. But I’m willing to bet that these “NBA owners” are operating more from the standpoint of trying to throw some shit at the wall and hoping some of it sticks to the Sixers. This reeks of a crybaby “wahh wahh go investigate the Sixers” kind of thing, more than a noble and altruistic defense of the hallowed NBA rules.
It’s all very irksome. The Fanatics thing doesn’t seem to be flimsy, at least not on the surface. Can’t say for sure, of course. Crazier things have happened, like Bryan Colangelo’s wife creating burner accounts to attack the players. For that reason, it would be irresponsible for us to blindly defend the Sixers without having all of the information.
But what does appear to be very real is this:
The Sixers will be under siege this year. They will be in the crosshairs, the recipients of nonstop attacks from the national media and corny fans and anonymous billionaire owners. Steel yourself, mentally and physically. It’s going to be like this for the entire season.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com