The Kawhi Leonard -Aspiration saga has continued to steamroll consistently in recent weeks, with the NBA and Adam Silver now expected to make big decisions. Journalist Pablo Torre, primarily responsible for the updates that are now public knowledge, had an interesting perspective on things.

“I think this is the biggest test of Adam Silver as commissioner. And I say that knowing that there are other candidates, but he came in with Donald Sterling. That was, in retrospect, an easy call. Documentary evidence. A tape. In three days, they said, banned for life,” Torre said during a segment with ESPN.

Referencing the Donald Sterling saga, Torre claimed that the 2014 controversy was more straightforward due to the overwhelmingly clear evidence. Sterling had made multiple problematic statements on record, which led to a lifetime ban from the NBA. However, the standard of proof is not as clear in Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers' situation.

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“This, poetically almost bookending that, Ballmer coming in because of that, Ballmer now being at the heart of a story, Tony, in which he poured in $118 million over 18 months, tracking alongside secret payments no one knew about to Kawhi Leonard that total $28 million in a no-show endorsement contract and $20 million more in a stock deal that he was signed to,” he explained.

The Clippers’ owner has a net worth of $156 billion, which Torre claimed made him the richest owner in sports. However, he says that the question that should now be answered by Silver is quite simple.

“And so the question for Adam Silver, to be blunt about this, is do the rules matter? You're a steward of integrity, the inconsistency of commentary around what you knew,” he said.

Torre claimed that the situation demands stringent action against the Clippers, and the blatant disregard for the league’s salary cap rules would simply set a hugely problematic precedent.