Clippers Fans Must Understand Pablo Torre Is Not the Enemy

LA Clippers fans are understandably growing frustrated with the NBA's ongoing investigation into the cap circumvention allegations. It has been almost a year since the private law firm hired by the league started looking into the allegations that the Clippers have been circumventing the salary cap in their dealings with Kawhi Leonard. There is currently no end in sight, even though the league and the Clippers are both hoping for it to be resolved before the start of next season.

This is impacting the Clippers' present and the future. It creates a ton of uncertainty around the organization, preventing the front office from doing what it needs to do to set the team up better for the future.

And the fanbase has every right to be angry at the situation.

Clippers Fans' Anger Has to Be Directed at the Right People

The problem is that there seems to be a tendency to take this frustration and anger out of journalists reporting on this issue. Pablo Torre, the investigative sports journalist who first reported on the Clippers' dealings with Leonard through Aspiration, has been at the center of these frustrations.

One look at Torre's social media accounts shows how much Clippers fans and media members are vilifying Torre. Everyone is, of course, entitled to their own opinions, but the attention is being directed at the wrong people here.

There is a misunderstanding of the job of an investigative journalist. Perhaps this is not surprising given the state of journalism in this country. The fact that a reporter is looking into your favorite team and their dealings doesn't mean that they are out to get you. "Who cares?" or "Why are you not looking into X, Y, or Z instead?" are not really relevant to journalism.

Plus, at this point, anything that Torre is reporting on, like the most recent allegation of a shady deal with Daktronics, is almost certainly already a part of the investigation. A reporter's role is to inform the public.

There may be some who don't care, but acting like this doesn't matter is a mistake. If these allegations are true, it's clear that the Clippers broke the league rules and hurt the competitive balance. The organization allegedly paid Leonard more than they are allowed to, which in turn convinced him to sign with and stay with the Clippers.

We shouldn't be fine with this alleged corruption by a billionaire and a multi-billion-dollar company just because we like the Clippers.

Torre's reporting on the case has been based on direct sources, former team employees, and leaked documents. We may not like what's in this reporting, but Torre is simply doing his job. It has been an impressive piece of journalism, earning him the Pulitzer Prize and National Magazine Award.

If and when the NBA decides to penalize the Clippers after the conclusion of the investigation, Torre is not going to be the one to blame. No journalist should be vilified for what they choose to report on.
In this situation, as it's almost always the case, the anger will need to be directed at the people in positions of power.

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