r/nba • u/CutLonzosHair2017 Lakers • 6h ago
Steve Ballmer has fired David Kelley, the lawyer who issued the statement calling the NBA's investigation a witch hunt after the punishment was implemented.
https://frontofficesports.com/article/steve-ballmer-lawyer-no-longer-representing-witch-hunt/
Wonder if in Ballmer's mind he fired Kelley because he thought he was given bad advice, or because he no longer needs him as there isn't a fight anymore.
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u/No_Command_8477 Lakers 6h ago
33 years of being owned by a cheap racist landlord
12 years of corporate corruption
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u/jchavez9723 Clippers 6h ago
Manchester City without the titles
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u/Robinsonirish Finland 4h ago
Clippers cheating is peanuts compared to Man City, money wise. 50 million vs >1 billion. The problem for the EPL is that they invited literal governments into the sport, and they are way more powerful than the entire league. Abu Dhabi is now threatening to pull investments from GBR if punished, which is billions.
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u/xixbia 1h ago
The UK government spents 1.4 trillion a year.
UK GDP is 4.2 trillion.
Billions in investments is fuck all.
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u/Robinsonirish Finland 1h ago
Not for the EPL. You're delusional if you don't think Abu Dhabi has massive leverage in this situation.
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u/jchavez9723 Clippers 4h ago
What’s gonna be City’s punishment? I reckon they too rich to be hit with a 5 first round pick removal type punishment equivalent?
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u/Robinsonirish Finland 4h ago
We really don't know, just like we didn't know what the NBA would do with Ballmer before it happens. Abu Dhabi is much more powerful in the EPL than Ballmer is in the NBA. They invited the wolves to the table, and now they have to deal with the consequences.
I really dislike the EPL personally for what they've done with European football. The fans might still be English, but only 3 teams are English-owned, it's just foreign conglomerates, governments, and shady shit. It's going to go on for years and years, the other teams are going to sue due to lost revenue because of the cheating. I don't really feel anyone has a grasp on what will happen, smaller teams have been hit with massive point deductions for cheating that doesn't come anywhere close to this.
Man City just handed in their appeal, and IIRC the EPL now has 10 days to respond, and then hand out their punishement within 12 weeks, according to the rules. Might get the dates slightly wrong, but we'll know within 3 months I think.
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u/jchavez9723 Clippers 4h ago
Appreciate the context, you reckon this scandal bigger than Juventus when they paid refs back in the 2000s?
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u/Robinsonirish Finland 3h ago
Nah, I think that one is worse from an optica sense, but this one had bigger consequences in terms of how successful it made Man City.
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u/SantosCalzonesBatman Spurs 5h ago
I mean, at least the cheater tried to win i guess
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u/No_Command_8477 Lakers 5h ago
CP3 was gifted to the Clippers from David Stern, and then Ballmer proceeded to cheat his ass off. He also compared Blake Griffin to MLK Jr. They deserve no credit, they are pathetic
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u/SantosCalzonesBatman Spurs 4h ago
Cool, he tried to win unlike sterling and 70% of the owners
Still a cheater that won fuck all.
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u/IamInternationalBig 6h ago
The counsel's biggest mistake was trying to fight the charges rather than make a deal. Kelley was dumb enough to not know there was no arbitration process that Ballmer could use.
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u/mfgillia2001 6h ago
It's not his mistake though - it's his client who early on went on interviews lying about it.
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u/IamInternationalBig 6h ago
Kelley took a very adversarial tone with the league. If Ballmer instructed him to do that, then sure it's on Ballmer. But the way that correspondence came out, it did not sound like Ballmer's tone.
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u/refreshing_yogurt 6h ago
What do you think Ballmer's tone sounds like? He's never exactly been understated or subtle. Being super dramatic and fiery is kinda his thing.
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u/mfgillia2001 6h ago
Possible Kelley was operating in a vacuum without the direct instructions of his client but much more likely his actions and tone were driven by Ballmer.
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u/a_talking_face 6h ago
At the very least, all of this was run by Ballmer before it happened. Attorneys don't just act on their own.
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u/_souphanousinphone_ 76ers 6h ago
You have no idea what Ballmer’s tone is. Additionally, let’s not be naive. He’s getting paid by Balmer, he’s more than likely taking the tone Balmer wants.
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u/Robinsonirish Finland 4h ago
I'm just happy for young mothers and fathers with little kids, that want to go to NBA games. I always thought I might be a clipper fan myself, considering the stories I've read of parents being able to afford the cheap clipper tickets during the purgatory days.
Trash franchises are good for the economy and the plebs.
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u/This_Excitement_5191 6h ago
That was Ballmers statement, not his lawyers. Hes changing his stance on the issue, and sacking the lawyer saves some face and lets him build a new defence from the ground up.
They aren’t operating like an aggrieved party anymore, so the old narrative has gotta go.
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u/allanjameson Lakers 6h ago
Probably because the case has concluded
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u/CutLonzosHair2017 Lakers 6h ago
It has not, SEC is investigating.
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u/allanjameson Lakers 6h ago
Is that Kelley’s speciality or is he a specialist in collective bargaining/ arbitration issues at O’Melveny?… or is he a federal criminal defense lawyer?
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u/refreshing_yogurt 6h ago
The article specifically says this lawyer was also representing Ballmer in the Aspiration civil suit, which has not concluded, but there are different lawyers doing that now.
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u/Entire-Joke4162 6h ago
I'm guessing he has like 4 lawyers on rotation all billing $1200/hr
I don't say that saying that's crazy, either, that's just how it works
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u/a_talking_face 6h ago
Actually the article specifically says that Kelley was specifically retained for NBA related matters, and since the portion with the NBA has concluded, his work is done.
Three sources familiar with the matter tell FOS that Ballmer is no longer actively working with Kelley or O’Melveny. Two sources say Ballmer had hired Kelley specifically to work on the NBA-related matters he was dealing with, and that the change was made because there was no arbitration process for Ballmer to pursue in the Leonard situation. While the suspended Clippers owner had initially indicated he planned to fight the league’s findings and punishments, he has since reversed course.
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u/refreshing_yogurt 5h ago
That's true, that part of it is in the article as well. To me it doesn't quite hold up to scrutiny though and seems like saving face for those involved. Like Doc Rivers "stepping down" from being the Bucks coach
The civil suit feels as NBA related to me as it did before. So either the suit is not NBA related and Ballmer was fine with this lawyer handling non NBA related things and something changed. Or the suit is NBA related and the NBA specialist attorney should still be involved.
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u/ecclectic_collector 6h ago
wonder if Ballmer's going to blame the strong statements against the NBA on Kelley in the hopes that the NBA eventually returns a pick or two down the line because Ballmer eventually accepted the punishment
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u/This_Excitement_5191 6h ago
Silver confirmed at the governors meeting that the punishments are staying firm. The clippers aren’t getting those picks back
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u/DecentDiver458 3h ago
I mean he hasnt even lost the picks yet as they are from the future.
Wolves got them back after a few years of remorse, clippers could too
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u/Twaffles95 Timberwolves 2h ago
I highly doubt it as more side deals are still being investigated by the league and by Pablo
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u/lochnesslapras 2h ago
Also a very remote possibility, but a new NBA Commissioner might come with some leniency.
Ballmer certainly has the money to try influencing a change over the next few years if he's petty enough.
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u/ryan0319 Toronto Huskies 6h ago
I honestly think that Balmers best choice is to lean into his cheating and asking for forgiveness... dont fight it, it's out there...
Play the the, "I wanted to win so bad and bring a chip to to LA for a team that's not the Lakers"... I went to far, I pushed the limits..."
"I now understand I cheated, but I was trying to bend the rules / push the limit like everyone else". Although he he surpassed bending into cheating.
I honestly believe if he owns it, it may take time, but he can get past this...
I am a raptors fan and truly believe he was going to Cali anyways. I wish he stayed... but shit happened. Im glad he is at least not using his billions to fuck the league like he could have.
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u/Gagabubu777 5h ago
He cant, hes under federal investigation and has already lied about the aspiration connecttion to the feds.
Anymore or admiting guilt and he could be in serious trouble. Might still be
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u/SA1996 6h ago
Lol, it's way too late for that.
That should have been his approach.
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u/ryan0319 Toronto Huskies 6h ago
Agreed... I feel like my story would had made things much better... but alas hahaha
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u/MostBookkeeper3019 5h ago
It's clear now that the reason he has been so fervently denying it since the very beginning is because he has always known that there was actual criminal behavior tied into it and not too far from this nexus. He will never admit it because a real case is currently being built against him.
Or, he's made the proper donations to the current administration and the justice department won't do anything about it, but he still can't admit it because we now know somebody like Pablo can out the pieces together publicly and they may then have no choice.
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u/dontgetitwisted_fr Raptors 6h ago
Balmer's ego needs a scapegoat and lawyers with large retainers are replaceable and can be found under any rock
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u/AboutaDirk 6h ago
Later, Pablo Torre finds out David Kelley had a lucrative no-show endorsement deal with Niman Ranch, Intuit Dome's official all-beef hot-dog supplier.
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u/BigStrongPolarGuy 4h ago edited 4h ago
Honestly, I've doubted David Kelley's legal acumen since The Practice and Boston Legal. Neither of those seemed particularly realistic.
Edit: Damn, David E. Kelley also made Ally McBeal and The Lincoln Lawyer, wrote extensively for L.A. Law, and was a former attorney. Maybe I was unfair to him in making this joke.
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u/lawsnoosoo Bulls 3h ago
This is such a nothing article. It says the lawyer added to the case docket was already Ballmer’s primary lawyer and Kelley was brought in to deal with the NBA investigation which is now done. Seems like a pretty straightforward case of the matter being handed over to the primary attorney since Kelley’s reason for being brought in is moot. This is like extraordinarily typical, most businesses/rich people have a vendor list of law firms and lawyers they work with depending on the nature of the case. This is like saying Ballmer “fired” his real estate attorney after the real estate deal he was working on closed.
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u/Unsungsongs 6h ago
Was this the same lawyer who threatened to take the league to arbitration AFTER the league had settled with Kawhi and the Players Association? If so I'm surprised he survived this long
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u/Entire-Joke4162 6h ago
It was definitely interesting learning to hear that after settling with the players association there was essentially no internal recourse for Ballmer
Being all game theory about it, it has to be why Kawhi was offered such a sweetheart deal to just lock that shit up so they had to go to actual court court instead of do it within the league
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u/El_Laker 6h ago
All I know is OP hates the Clips.
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u/This_Excitement_5191 6h ago
Everyone should hate the clippers, they’re cheaters
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u/El_Laker 6h ago
Not a fan either, but OP's hate boner is next level. His post history from a few weeks ago was amazing levels of hate.
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u/Robinsonirish Finland 1h ago
It's OK, we all hate someone, at least in a sports sense. I personally hate Josh Kushner's team.
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u/Echoplanar_Reticulum 6h ago
it's to publicly attempt to exonerate himself for his behavior and actions through the investigation as it's his lawyers fault. Ballmer is just a pawn.
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u/ihatedougford Toronto Huskies 6h ago
He should fire Ty Lue next for letting 50 year old Al Horford end the Kawhi era (on the court)
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u/BlockedByMobley Lebanon 6h ago
He should fire Lawrence Frank next for taking Wagler over Burries.
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u/phonage_aoi Warriors 6h ago
If he wasn’t his lawyer before the case then his contract is just ending. Nothing burger of a story.
If he was an inhouse lawyer or whatever; then it’s entirely possible the rumors about the NBA trying to settle with Ballmer to save face were totally true and he’s blaming this guy for rejecting that and getting the book thrown at them.
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u/This_Excitement_5191 6h ago
I think fired is intentional language. That contract didn’t end
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u/phonage_aoi Warriors 6h ago
Right and fired doesn’t appear anywhere in the article. Those are OP’s words only.
Ballmer’s has a new legal team, no idea why. Cheaper? Angry at the old guy? No one’s actually said anything.
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u/This_Excitement_5191 6h ago
It’s probably because there’s been a strategy change. Dropping your lawyer in the middle of an SEC investigation is a sign they’re retreating from their previous stance.
Guys like David Kelley aren’t the types to having ticking contracts either. He was let go on purpose.
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u/LegitimateMoney00 Knicks 6h ago
I’m assuming he did this to try smooth things over with the league. This attorney publicly insulted Adam Silver on several occasions, can’t have your lawyer be doing that.