'Pablo Torre Finds Out' wins Pulitzer Prize for probe of Clippers, Kawhi Leonard's alleged $28M deal with Aspiration
"Pablo Torre Finds Out" won the Pulitzer Prize for audio reporting on Monday for its investigation into alleged circumvention of the NBA's salary cap by the Los Angeles Clippers.
“Pablo Torre Finds Out” won the Pulitzer Prize for audio reporting on Monday for its investigation into alleged circumvention of the NBA’s salary cap by the Los Angeles Clippers. The podcast won the award for four episodes in September that probed the financial relationship between Clippers All-Star Kawhi Leonard and Aspiration, a now-defunct third-party company that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer had invested in. Per the Pulitzer Prize , PTFO won “for a pioneering and entertaining form of live podcast journalism that investigated how the Los Angeles Clippers seemingly evaded the NBA’s salary cap rules by funneling money to a star player through an environmental startup.
” The prize is awarded “for a distinguished example of audio journalism that serves the public interest, characterized by revelatory reporting and illuminating storytelling. ” PTFO beat out the New York Times’ “The Protocol” investigation into youth gender medicine and the Wall Street Journal’s “Camp Swamp Road,” which investigated a fatal shooting in the context of stand-your-ground laws. Both were fellow finalists alongside PTFO.
PTFO: Clippers circumvented salary cap with third-party Kawhi Leonard deal Per the findings of the PTFO investigation, Aspiration signed Leonard to a $28 million no-show marketing deal, with the implication that that money was funneled to Leonard from Ballmer in violation of the NBA’s salary cap. Per the report, Ballmer personally invested $50 million in Aspiration at its founding stage in 2021, and the Clippers signed a $300 million sponsorship deal with Aspiration. Steve Ballmer has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing regarding his business dealings with Aspiration.
Eric Thayer via Getty Images Ballmer, Leonard deny wrongdoing Ballmer has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and said after PTFO’s initial report that he had been “conned” by Aspiration . Aspirations’s co-founder, Joseph Sanberg, pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges in 2025 for his role in a scheme that prosecutors say defrauded investors of $248 million. In an April letter to a judge overseeing Sanberg’s sentencing, Ballmer wrote that he lost his entire $60 million investment in Aspiration.