Sports
Silver: Burden on NBA to show violation by Clips
NEW YORK — It will be up to the NBA to prove wrongdoing during its investigation of potential salary cap circumvention by the LA Clippers, owner Steve Ballmer and star Kawhi Leonard, league commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday.
“The burden is on the league if we’re going to discipline a team, an owner, a player or any constituent members of the league,” Silver said during his annual news conference at the conclusion of the league’s board of governors meetings in midtown Manhattan. “I think as with any process that requires a fundamental sense of fairness, the burden should be on the party that is, in essence, bringing those charges.”
Silver said the league needs to look “at the totality of the evidence” rather than just “mere appearance.”
“Just by the way those words read, I think as a matter of fundamental fairness, I would be reluctant to act if there was sort of a mere appearance of impropriety. … I think that the goal of a full investigation is to find out if there really was impropriety. Also, in a public-facing sport, the public at times reaches conclusions that later turn out to be completely false. I’d want anybody else in the situation Mr. Ballmer is in now, or Kawhi Leonard for that matter, to be treated the same way I would want to be treated if people were making allegations against me.”
The league has already begun an investigation into whether Ballmer and the Clippers violated league rules because Leonard accepted a $28 million endorsement for a “no-show job” from Aspiration, a now-bankrupt green banking company in which Ballmer had invested.
The allegations first came out last week when an unnamed employee who purportedly worked for Aspiration told podcaster Pablo Torre that the payment to Leonard “was to circumvent the salary cap.”
Sources told ESPN that while there will be a thorough investigation of the matter by New York-based law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, there is no set deadline to find a conclusion.
There has been a healthy amount of debate about whether any decision by Silver — who reaffirmed Wednesday that he has “very broad powers in these situations” — would be dictated by whether the Clippers would have to prove their innocence, or whether the burden of proof was instead on the NBA to find wrongdoing.
Silver made it clear it will be the latter.
“I’ve been around the league long enough in different permutations of allegations and accusations that I’m a big believer in due process and fairness, and we need to now let the investigation run its course,” Silver said.
Silver also said that’s the opinion of Ballmer’s fellow owners.
“At least what’s being said to me is a reservation of judgment,” Silver said. “I think people recognize that that’s what you have a league office for. That’s what you have a commissioner for — someone who is independent of the teams. On one hand, of course, I work collectively for the 30 governors, but I have an independent obligation to be the steward of the brand and the integrity of this league.
“At least what those governors have said directly to me. To the extent we have had discussions [with the board of governors] — they’ve been limited — we communicated to them that we engaged Wachtell to do this investigation. And maybe I cut off any further conversations and said, ‘Let’s all withhold judgment, let’s do this investigation and then we will come back to you in terms of our findings.'”
Silver also hit upon a few other league topics:
ALL-STAR GAME FORMAT: Silver said the goal is to have the new All-Star Game format in place by the start of the regular season. He did confirm it will be shifting to a three-team format featuring 16 American players and eight international players at February’s All-Star Game in Los Angeles.
Silver said it is a priority to get the players engaged in the league’s marquee event.
“I think in the case of the NBA, this is what I’m trying to convey, particularly to younger players, is that All-Star is a big deal,” Silver said. “There’s been great traditions out there. People have great memories of these All-Star Games. It’s part of the fabric of this league, the excitement that comes from it and the engagement from our players.”
EUROPEAN LEAGUE: Silver said that discussions about the various things that will go into potentially creating an NBA-run league in Europe continue and that many different parts of the league office are involved in those talks.
Silver said he and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum traveled to Europe to meet with different stakeholders this summer. Silver also said discussions with the EuroLeague, the biggest league in Europe today, remain ongoing after his news conference earlier this year with FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis — who has openly feuded with the EuroLeague in the past.
Silver went on to say that the impression that the NBA is putting domestic expansion ahead of creating a European league is “not the case.”
“I see them as completely different entities,” Silver said, adding that there was no new news to report on the topic, though it again came up at the board meeting.
“Part of the difficulty in potentially assessing it is a sense of long-term value of the league, and a little bit maybe it’s a high-class problem, but as with some of the recent jumps in franchise valuations, that sort of creates some confusion in the marketplace about how you might even price an expansion franchise,” he said.
“I’ll only say it’s something that we continue to actively look at.”
BEASLEY INVESTIGATION: Silver declined to say whether there are any limitations on Malik Beasley‘s availability while the NBA conducts its own investigation into gambling allegations against the free agent guard.
“I’ll only say there that the investigation is ongoing,” Silver said. “As I understand it, there’s still a federal investigation that’s ongoing of Malik Beasley as well. We will address whatever is presented to us in his case.”
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Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson has sued the LPGA and USGA for its policies that prohibit biological males who underwent male puberty from competing in women’s competition.
The LPGA said in a statement it was aware of the lawsuit and would “let that process play out on the proper forum.”
“The LPGA’s gender policy was developed through a thoughtful, expert-informed process and is grounded in protecting the competitive integrity of elite women’s golf,” the statement said.
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The USGA and LPGA changed gender policies for events in 2025 and beyond, declaring that players must be assigned female at birth or have transitioned to female before going through male puberty to be eligible to compete.
The 33-year-old Davidson didn’t transition until after puberty. Davidson competed in a U.S. Open qualifier and LPGA Qualifying School under a different policy in 2024, falling short in both efforts.
Davidson claimed in the lawsuit that the new policy effectively bans transgender women from competing in USGA women’s events or the LPGA because many states prevent children from taking hormones or blocking puberty.
When the USGA denied Davidson entry into the qualifier, Davidson claimed the Hackensack Golf Club violated the law by saying the USGA controlled all decisions regarding eligibility. Davidson began hormone treatments in Davidson’s early 20s in 2015 and in 2021 underwent gender-affirming surgery, which was required under the LPGA’s previous gender policy.
Davidson also filed a lawsuit against the women’s golf tour NXXT in December after it changed its policies to prevent biological males from competing against females.
NXXT and its attorneys from America First Legal filed its motion to dismiss in February, and believe the suit will be thrown out.
“We are asking the courts to dismiss the claims, and we’re addressing the matter,” NXXT Golf CEO Stuart McKinnon told Fox News Digital.
“This was about simply protecting women’s sports. So the goal was really clarity and competitive integrity, and, as a professional tour, we believe it was our responsibility to define those categories.”
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NXXT was one of the first women’s tours that stepped up to make a policy change. The LPGA then changed its own policy to bring about more restrictions to protect the women’s category in December 2024.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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BOURNEMOUTH, England — Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick branded the decisions of referee Stuart Attwell “baffling” and “astonishing” after his side suffered perceived penalty injustice in a dramatic 2-2 Premier League draw at Bournemouth.
United took the lead in the 61st minute courtesy of a Bruno Fernandes penalty after Bournemouth defender Álex Jiménez tugged on Matheus Cunha‘s shirt in the box.
Minutes later Diallo was brought down by an Adrien Truffert in the area, only for VAR to deem the contact “was not sufficient for a foul.”
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United’s screams for a penalty were waved away. Seconds later, Bournemouth drove the ball down the opposite end and levelled the scores through Ryan Christie.
United went back ahead on 71 minutes when Bournemouth’s James Hill accidentally nodded a Fernandes corner into his own net.
However, the atmosphere among the travelling support turned when Maguire brought down striker Evanilson with a push in the box that resulted in him getting a red card and Bournemouth an equaliser from the penalty spot.
While Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola said the Diallo collision was “never a penalty,” Carrick said the decisions involving Cunha and Diallo were exactly the same.
“He’s definitely got one of them wrong because he’s given one penalty for us for the same thing that he’s not given one,” Carrick told a news conference.
“There’s a two-arm grab. The Matheus one he gives, the second one on Amad he doesn’t, which I think is almost identical, really. If you have two hands on someone in the box and they go over and they’re in control of the ball, for me it’s two penalties.
“It will be interesting to see which one they acknowledge is wrong: the one we got or the one we didn’t get.
“It’s a huge moment. They don’t give it, they go down the other end and score and then it becomes all of a sudden, ‘oh, it needs to be a bigger penalty to overturn,’ just because they scored, when actually it’s a penalty and it should be a penalty if you’ve already given one.
“It’s baffling really to make sense of that. And because they score, the game flips a little bit and changes.
“We defended with the 10 men after all that very well. But the penalty one is just astonishing, I have to say. One of them must be wrong.”
Man United captain Bruno Fernandes also expressed his frustrations, adding that he believes “small” players do not get the decisions they deserve from referees.
“Not getting a penalty and then we get a penalty against where it’s the same situation as Amad — one is one, one is not,” he told Sky Sports.
“I know it’s difficult for the referee to give two penalties to the same team in one game, but I don’t understand why VAR doesn’t get involved in that situation or with Harry [Maguire] because either one is a penalty and so is the other, or none of them are.
“Amad is getting to a point where he’s going to shoot, and he gets pushed — you can see that something puts him completely out of balance. It’s frustrating for the small players because they always say the small players are soft, and when it’s the bigger players, they end up giving the fouls.
“I think the other situation is a penalty, but I also think the one on Amad is a penalty and that could’ve changed the game.”
United remain in third place after the Premier League and will hope that Liverpool, Aston Villa and Chelsea also drop points this weekend as they fight to finish in the top five to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
PA contributed to this report.
Sports
American Conference Commissioner Tim Pernetti thanks Trump for Army-Navy game executive order
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American Conference Commissioner Tim Pernetti praised President Donald Trump after Trump signed an executive order to protect the exclusive broadcasting window for the annual Army-Navy football game.
Pernetti expressed the conference’s “deep gratitude” for the order.
“The American Conference is deeply grateful to President Trump for his strong leadership in issuing the historic executive order to preserve America’s Game,” Pernetti said in a statement.
“This is a meaningful step that protects a cherished national tradition and reinforces what makes the Army-Navy Game so special to our country.
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President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order during the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy presentation with the Navy Midshipmen football team in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., March 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
“The Army-Navy Game represents far more than football. It honors our service academies, highlights the character and commitment of our future leaders and brings Americans together around values that matter deeply, including service and sacrifice.
“This executive order is a positive step for the sport, for our service academies and for the enduring legacy of America’s Game. We are proud to be a part of the team working to protect it.”
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President Donald Trump is escorted onto the field to take part in the ceremonial coin toss before the start of a game between Army and Navy at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore Dec. 13, 2025. (Stephanie Scarbrough/AP Photo)
Trump signed the order Friday as he presented the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy to the Navy football team in the East Room of the White House. The order directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Commerce to coordinate with relevant parties, including the NCAA, the College Football Playoff (CFP) and broadcast partners, to secure an exclusive broadcast window for the standalone game.
The executive order came amid growing concerns that an expanding College Football Playoff calendar could encroach on the game’s traditional date, which since 2009 has been played exclusively on the second Saturday in December.
The classic rivalry, first played in 1890, has been played annually since 1930 and typically draws 7 million to 8 million viewers, making it one of the highest-rated regular-season games in college football. The current television agreement with CBS Sports runs through 2038.
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President Donald Trump tosses a coin before a game between the Army and Navy in Baltimore Dec. 13, 2025. (Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump, who has attended multiple Army-Navy games as president, framed the move in January as an act of patriotism, writing on social media, “Under my Administration, the second Saturday in December belongs to Army-Navy, and ONLY Army-Navy!”
As the postseason structure of college football continues to evolve, this executive order signals a significant commitment by the administration to maintain the standalone grandeur of a matchup defined by the phrase “sing second.”
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