Hour 1: Clippers Punishments, NBC Sports NFL Analyst Mike Tomlin, journalist Pablo Torre on Clippers penalties

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1:20Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. Don't blink. If you'll blink or cut your eyelids off. This is the Rich Eisen Show. We do not care. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. The Rich Eisen Show. Today's guests. NBC Sports NFL analyst Mike Tomlin.

1:53Rich Eisen:Host of Pablo Torre Finds Out. Pablo Torre, Giants running back Cam Scadaboo, actor Mark Wahlberg. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

2:15All right, everybody.

2:16Rich Eisen:Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show live in Los Angeles, California, everybody. We are one week away from the National Football League season starting and having a conversation about it. Because at this very point next week, we'll be able to talk about Seahawks and Patriots kicking it all off and getting ready for Rams and 49ers in Australia. That's how we're rolling into this show with Mike Tomlin joining us for the first time as a pundit. He'll be first up on this program, NBC Sports. Ladies and gentlemen, Mike Tomlin is going to be joining us. Cam Skatibow of the New York Football Giants is joining us.

2:58Rich Eisen:And I've got to be honest, he's one of the white whales we've been hunting to have in our studio and sit down with us for as long as he wants. And his name is Mark Wahlberg, and he's going to join us in our number three physically right here. and I have to say in the history of celebrity true or falses this one's going to be epic because we're going to ask about Boogie Nights and The Departed and Ted and Invincible and we got to go to the other guys it's one of our favorite movies to talk about Suze is going to stop by Women's Sports Now is later on today oh somebody found out his name is Pablo he's going to be joining us at the end of this hour hello Chris Brockman how are you Rajai's and I'm excellent.

3:47Rich Eisen:Say hi to your mother fucker. Jason Feller, how are you? Hello. TJ Jefferson holding up the... Oh, come on. The Kawhi Leonard... What is this? That's not a fathead. Oh, it's a fathead. Yeah, it's still a ton. All right, very good. Can you please ditch them now? Listen. It's over. Hold on a minute. Keep that handy. It was one year ago today. Today? September 3rd, 2025, that Pablo Torre put out his podcast about the Los Angeles Clippers and what they were allegedly up to with Kawhi Leonard skirting the salary cap system in the National Basketball Association, finding out about basically a no-show job, allegedly.

4:33Rich Eisen:You got to say allegedly because there's a lot of lawyers. There's a lot of angry people. And there's a lot of rich litigious people who can sue the pants off you. So you got to tiptoe lightly. But in the world of lightly tiptoeing, Adam Silver had his David Stern moment, if you will, where he's out of you know what's to give. and on behalf of the association, he's going to tell a Los Angeles-based team, you're not going to like what I have to say. But I guess telling the Lakers they can't get Chris Paul has got nothing, you know, on this, right? The landing here of five first-round selections, A year-long suspension for Steve Ballmer.

5:31Rich Eisen:Two other executives, including Lawrence Frank, getting suspended without pay. Monitoring program for five years. I don't know what that is. Is that non-secret double probation? And Uncle Dennis, as he is known, the longtime business manager and relative of Kawhi Leonard. five years, a five-year ban from the National Basketball Association from 2029 through 2033. The Los Angeles Clippers will not have a single first-round draft choice to use, which means, which means, again, at the end of the day, you know, there's a lot of finger-pointing going on right now. The Clippers don't seem to be ready to go gently into that good night.

6:29Rich Eisen:Put the statement up if you don't mind. They vehemently reject the NBA findings, which is very similar to strenuously object. Oh, no, no, no, no. I strenuously object. Who's going to have a problem with this? You, Lieutenant Palmer? We vehemently reject the NBA's findings, which are the result of a heavily biased investigation seeking to justify a predetermined narrative rather than the facts and evidence. What the league told us privately differs from what it announced today publicly, and they have not held themselves close to the standard commissioner's silver set at the start of this investigation to ensure its fairness and accuracy.

7:08Rich Eisen:For the past year, we cooperated fully and in good faith. We'll now fight just as hard to demonstrate our innocence. we intend to as you can see on the screen vigorously challenge these findings and penalties through every avenue available to us and look forward to an ethical and impartial arbitration process there were some other statements as well on that front listen we're we're i it's a 36 page um document that the law firm that was hired to investigate this for a year, put out summary of findings. It's dense. It's sometimes difficult to follow. But the bottom line is, if the Clippers did it, and it sure looks like the NBA believes that they have, and they hit them so hard that it's difficult to fathom.

8:05Rich Eisen:You can't really comprehend how to compare it. It's difficult to compare to anything else. But at the end of the day, this thing sticks. And there's no, one would think, massive legal brawl that somebody who's got gajillions of dollars can fund because he wants to attend his team's games and feels that this is an unfair result. And Steve Ballmer has those deep pockets, and one would think he's going to come with every possible, possible legal weapon at his disposal. The total cost of Kawhi Leonard signing with the Los Angeles Clippers. Oh, man. Is staggered. It hurt me to read this. Shea Gilgis Alexander.

8:58Rich Eisen:Jalen Williams. They're on another team. Okay. Two first round pick swaps and ten. Count them. Five is part of the acquisition. And now five is part of the aftermath of the punishment of apparently what was happening. Ten first round picks, ten of them.

9:29Rich Eisen:And Kawhi Leonard, I have not mentioned yet. Kawhi Leonard all the NBA pops him for is a$700 ,000 fine which is by the way an affront I don't understand that part of it especially if he made $28 million from this whole thing that caused this whole thing $700 ,000 and he gets to go play for the Toronto Raptors next year he gets out of jail There's no sit-down. So he's just, what, a dupe? Maybe so. He's a dupe that Uncle Dennis was doing all this stuff, and the Clippers were running around doing all this stuff, allegedly. Doing all this stuff, and Kawhi's just like, oh, I'll just shoot buckets. I'll come back from my knee injuries.

10:25Rich Eisen:Bored man. Is that it? I'll eat apples. I mean, not to say. Not to take a side, but yeah, when you're that good at basketball, I'm sure he was just... What? I don't know. He was playing basketball and the business people were probably... And he had no idea about it. All that money shows up in his bank account. What's this for? His uncle was doing this on his own. I didn't plant a tree. What? Look, we know how this works. Really? Okay. I don't know. I saw that and I'm like, people in the front offices are being sat without pay. in the case of no in in the case of Kawhi Leonard he's just he's the one that just gets to go and continue his craft and just say snap off seven hundred thousand dollars he put out a statement that's by the way completely different from what the Clippers said exactly where he's talking about I you know integrity and respect for this game are fundamental to who I am I expect full I accept full responsibility for lapses and judgment by people within my inner circle and regret the distraction the situation has caused the fans and my family oh lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle that is that is next level like uh wardrobe malfunction spin to try and create some sort of sense of uh of innocence but but that is difficult it's difficult it just strains credulity i it Keep that up on the screen if you don't mind here.

11:59Rich Eisen:I entered into my contract with the Clippers as well as the agreements in question in good faith. Fully committed to fulfilling my obligations and with no knowledge of any intent or anyone's part to circumvent the salary cap. So wait a minute, you accept responsibility for what? Not knowing what others are doing on your behalf to put money in your pocket? For 15 years, my priority has been giving everything to my family, the game, and those I share the court with. As I return to Toronto, he's page turning, folks. I'm focused on what I can control, closing this chapter and moving forward with a clean slate.

12:34Rich Eisen:Wow. If he literally planted a couple trees, none of this would have happened. Right? Seems like it. I don't know. Again, this is way too dense. That's part of the reason why we're having Pablo Torre on shortly.

12:50Rich Eisen:But the Clippers here. have a massive, massive problem. Okay? Yeah. Their relationship with their association is fractured. It's like a death now. Pardon me. As long as Bomber owns the team. Okay? And fractured, if not utterly destroyed. It's now going to be full-on legal battle going down right now. Front office executives, plural, have been suspended. without pay. Balmer's not allowed to sit in there and look at his beautiful wall that he's built. His own building he can't go into. That's correct. Can't step foot. $30 million fine. Five first-round picks. Five years probation. And Kawhi Leonard is going to be playing for the Toronto Raptors scot-free with the exception of$700 ,000 and questions about his integrity that he says in a statement he cares about.

13:53Rich Eisen:But at the end of the day, he knows he's going into Massachusetts one day. Yeah. He's going to get his orange jacket. Also, Steve Ballmer, like, he got off easy. What do you mean? $30 million fine is$20 to a regular person. And he's lucky they didn't take the team away. That's something that you can't force someone to sell unless this is an indication. There's already a precedent in the NBA forcing owners to sell. With that team. Well, I mean. But that was justified in my opinion. There's a vast difference between what the Clippers have done to circumvent the cap, which is one thing to tell another team in the NBA, don't even think of trying this again because look what we just did to the Clippers.

14:41Rich Eisen:Spitting in the eye of literal black and white rules. And this is not the first time. And what Donald Sterling did. Those things aren't even in the same realm of the planet Earth. At all. One is a rules violation. The other is just a disgusting. Human rights violation. Yeah, I mean, but that said, that said. Kawhi off in Toronto,$700 ,000 fine. A massive sinkhole in Englewood, California right now. Kawhi Leonard, his acquisition by the Los Angeles Clippers is now on the Mount Rushmore of the worst acquisitions in the history of professional sports on planet Earth. I don't even know what could compare to this.

15:29I mean, it knocks Herschel Walker off the top.

15:32Rich Eisen:Boom. Deshaun Watson. What about Deshaun Watson? Yeah. I mean, this ain't nothing compared to that. For him to come here and basically say, I'm only coming here if you get me Paul George, and then they do that. And the Oklahoma City Thunder use all of that capital and players to build what they have built in their conference. And then part, I guess, according to these documents, according to the NBA, part of bringing Kawhi there had a whole bunch of side deals. and you look at the amount of money it's for, chump change compared to everything else that's going on right now. Chump change. And look who's the chump.

16:25Rich Eisen:I don't know, man. Kawhi won't care being called a chump. He won't care. But everybody else involved in this is now left holding the bag. Holding the bag. And you could sit here and say that's just desserts. It's just like read the summary. Listen to what Pablo is going to be saying later on this hour, what he said on his pod, all of it. But the worst, name me another. Name me another guy or woman who was acquired by a team that also leaves the team that gets him ringless, ringless.

17:08honestly on a Mount Rushmore and perhaps the worst acquisition in the history of professional

17:16Rich Eisen:sports on planet earth I can't I can't make the galaxy then because I don't know what professional leagues there are outside of Space Jam I mean look we don't pay attention to the soccer world in Europe that much there couldn't be something uh on that I don't know on par of 10 first round And a MVP and a champion. For another franchise. Yeah. Okay. I said my piece. It's rough. Pablo Torre is going to join us after Mike Tomlin. We take a break here on the Rich Eisen Show. Before we go, a SoFi personal loan is here to help you achieve something once thought impossible. Overcoming high interest credit card debt.

17:50Rich Eisen:Walk the tightrope of your finances with one low fixed rate monthly payment and no fees required. And as soon as the same day funding. Pull off your own debt-defying stunt right now with a SoFi personal loan by visiting SoFi.com slash trick to learn more. Loans originated by SoFi Bank and a member FDIC. Terms and conditions apply. NMLS 696891. Mike Tomlin of NBC Sports. I just said those words. A football night in America when we come back.

18:22The Rich Eisen Show podcast. And certainly there are going to be things to criticize. That's football. But I think I'm going to approach it in the same spirit in which I approached it as a coach, which is tell the truth while at the same time being sensitive to the fact that, you know, it's not always easily digestible.

18:44Rich Eisen:Mike Tomlin here on the Rich Eisen Show in advance of Sunday Night Football, Football Night in America, and another great season on NBC Sports. You're the perfect guy to ask this question to because I heard this soundbite from Aaron Rodgers talking about, I don't know if you heard this, about Roman Wilson in practice and an interception that, you know, the media saw get thrown. And here was his answer, Mike Tomlin. Yeah, Roman made a repeat mistake. You know, that's a good learning because I don't think he's going to do that again. But he did the same thing early in training camp. And we said, hey, on that under route, you got to keep coming.

19:23So I think it's the best that it happened in practice. Roman is a great kid. He's had a fantastic camp. I have utmost confidence in him. He's going to have to play a big role for us. But mistakes are going to happen. That's a great one to happen in practice. But he's gotten a lot better, and I'm really proud of Roman.

19:43Rich Eisen:How do you interpret that, Mike? It's a teachable moment. But, you know, he's acknowledging that he is a young developing player. He's also educating him to the fact that as long as you're having new issues, then progress is being made. Repeat errors, there's a price to pay for that. And so he's wrapping him on the beak while at the same time putting his arm around him. And I think Aaron does a great job of managing that, utilizing media opportunities to do both. I just think it's a component of leadership. It's certainly a component of his leadership style. And I'm sure because of his ability to develop individual relationships that is received in the right spirit from Roman.

20:29Rich Eisen:What's your opinion on how good the Steelers can be this year, Mike? Man, you know, I'm a Steeler fan, man. I'm not even going to, you know, I'm not even going to pretend that I'm not. I'm rooting for those guys. I had a hand in selecting so many of those guys in a variety of ways. I think when you care and you have relationships, it's okay to root. And I certainly think they're capable of being a really good team. But consciously, I've kept my distance in terms of reading up on them and following them, to be honest with you, because I'm a fixer by nature. But, you know, I'm not a component of what's going on there.

21:10And so I try to protect my sanity by limiting my exposure to what's transpired in their developmental journey.

21:19Rich Eisen:Right. But do you think do you think they can make the Super Bowl, Mike Tomlin? I certainly do. I think I think that's the only reason Aaron comes back. He believes it. I believe it. I don't think he comes back if he doesn't believe that. I think they got the bones of having a good unit in all three phases. Certainly, they're probably not being talked about in the ways that some others are being talked about. But that can be a good motivator and a catalyst for them as well. I think they got high expectations, and I think they should have high expectations. Mike Tomlin here on the Rich Eisen Show.

21:57Rich Eisen:I guess if I had a peek in your rundown, if at least I was making it up on Sunday Night Football, and I'm sure they're going to hit on this, George Pickens, because you're going to see the Cowboys and the Giants in your first Sunday night football, a football night in America. And I know you had George. You drafted him. And then there was just obviously a separating of the ways. What now more can you share about why Pickens was no longer on Pittsburgh and has been blossoming in Dallas, Mike? You know, I just think you draft young players that are talented. You help them develop. If they're developing in the right ways, if they fit your long-range plans, then you do second contract business with them.

22:42It didn't happen for us with George, but it doesn't necessarily mean that he's not going to be a spectacular player. I think he's already proven that to a degree with his first year in Dallas. But there's also been something that's stopped Dallas us from making that long-term commitment to him as well. And so, you know, I think he still has something to prove. Knowing him, that doesn't bother him. He just loves to play football. He's extremely talented. And so, you know, get your cameras ready, man, for week one, because that's what GP does. He makes plays.

23:17Rich Eisen:So what do you think he does have to prove, Mike? Rich Eisen here with some advice. If high interest credit card debt is grinding you down, it might be time to call an audible with a SoFi personal loan. It consolidates your debt into one low monthly payment with no fees required. And with as soon as the same day funding, you can make the right play fast. Call an audible on your debt today at SoFi.com slash debt play. Loans originated by SoFi Bank N.A. Member FDIC. Terms and conditions apply. N.M. L.S. 696891. Fast funds. Terms apply at SoFi.com slash debt play. Rich Eisen here for gusto. On my shows, we talk a lot about what happens in the spotlight, the games, the highlights, and the moments that get replayed and debated.

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