After the NBA handed the Clippers a historic punishment, one of many nation’s most adorned investigative journalists believes Pablo Torre nonetheless isn’t getting sufficient credit score.
Miami Herald reporter Julie Ok. Brown, whose “Perversion of Justice” investigation helped expose Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse and the system that protected him, ripped The New York Occasions and The Athletic for what she seen as minimizing Torre’s function in uncovering the Clippers scandal.
“It’s shameful that @nytimes @TheAthletic buried the truth that the largest punishment in NBA historical past was the results of an investigation by journalist @PabloTorre,” Brown wrote on X. “And to name it the results of a ‘podcast episode’ is an additional slap within the face.”
Brown acquired a 2026 Pulitzer particular quotation for her groundbreaking Epstein reporting. The Pulitzer board honored her work for exposing Epstein’s abuse, the justice system that protected him and the highly effective community surrounding him.
Torre and the employees of “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” in the meantime, received the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting particularly for his or her investigation into how the Clippers seemingly circumvented NBA wage cap guidelines.
The New York Put up first detailed Torre’s bombshell reporting on Kawhi Leonard’s $28 million “no-show” endorsement deal in September 2025.
Torre continued uncovering items of the monetary relationship within the weeks that adopted, together with a $21 million Aspiration paper path involving the Clippers.
A 12 months later, the NBA concluded that the Clippers dedicated a “sample of misconduct and a number of vital guidelines violations” by facilitating exterior earnings alternatives for Leonard with corporations doing enterprise with the franchise. Los Angeles was fined $30 million and stripped of 5 first-round picks, whereas proprietor Steve Ballmer acquired a one-year suspension.
The league additionally suspended Clippers executives Gillian Zucker and Lawrence Frank, fined Leonard $700,000 and banned Leonard’s former enterprise consultant Dennis Robertson from conducting NBA enterprise for 5 years. The NBA mentioned its findings adopted an unbiased investigation by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
The findings landed after months wherein Torre’s reporting had confronted vital pushback.
Ballmer and the Clippers repeatedly denied wrongdoing. When Torre’s unique report surfaced, the workforce referred to as allegations that it circumvented the wage cap “provably false.”
Mark Cuban turned certainly one of Torre’s most outstanding skeptics, publicly declaring himself “Workforce Ballmer” and arguing Torre was specializing in the improper villain. Cuban warned that Torre’s idea involving Ballmer would “again fireplace on him.”
The NBA’s ruling prompted a markedly totally different response from Cuban.
“Congrats Pablo.”
It was a unprecedented two-word concession after a 12 months wherein Torre’s reporting had repeatedly been questioned.
Brown argued the resistance Torre encountered made the shortage of recognition extra obvious.
“Pablo’s work was so threatening that the Clippers employed ‘fixers’ to attempt to smear him — but he continued to report on this even within the face of immense strain,” Brown wrote, an allegation she made with out offering extra proof within the submit.
She additionally praised Torre for pushing sports activities journalism towards better accountability.
“Pablo Torre received a Pulitzer Prize for a motive,” Brown wrote. “He’s altering sports activities journalism: forcing transparency and accountability to a system that has operated at midnight for a very long time.”
The Pulitzer board itself has been significantly much less coy about Torre’s influence.
After the NBA introduced its findings, the group revealed a chunk highlighting the real-world influence of the reporting and noting that Torre had “damaged the entire affair” the earlier 12 months.
Brown’s level was less complicated.
Torre didn’t merely host a podcast episode in regards to the Clippers.
He uncovered the story that finally triggered an NBA investigation and one of the consequential punishments in league historical past.
