Small card Yin-Yang contract gets an extra 48 million? Reporter: This is the biggest test Xiao Hua faced during his tenure

2:58pm, 21 September 2025 Basketball

The Athletic reporter and former ESPN contributor Pablo Torre was the first to reveal that Xiao Ka and Ballmer were suspected of signing Yin-Yang contracts to evade the NBA salary cap.

Recently, Pablo Torre talked about the challenge of the Xiaoka incident on NBA League President Adam Xiao Hua during the show link. The specific details are as follows:

"I think this (Xiao Ka suspected of signing the Yin-Yang contract) is the biggest test Adam Xiao Hua faces during his term as president of the league. I say that because there are indeed other major events during this period - he encountered the Donald Sterling incident as soon as he took office (he took office in February 2014, dealing with the Sterling incident in April). But now looking back, it is an easy case to deal with: there are written evidence and recorded evidence, and a lifelong ban decision was made within three days.

"It is quite dramatic that Ballmer took over the Clippers because of the Sterling incident, but now he himself has become the center of the storm - Tony (Pablo) According to investigation, he (Balmer) invested $118 million in Aspiration within 18 months, and secretly paid Xiaoka a $28 million "named endorsement" contract and transferred $20 million through stock agreements.

"This means a full $48 million bypassing the salary cap to complete payment, and is handled by the richest boss in the sports world. To be honest, Xiao Hua's core question is: Are the regulations of the alliance counted? As the guardian of the integrity system, the contradictions about his level of knowledge are even more questionable.

"Borrow the topic of commemorating Robert Redford (American actor/director) this week: What do you know? When did you know? This issue is not only about the information disclosed by the President himself, but also involves the 3,000-page investigation report obtained through my multiple evidence collection. ”

Pablo Torre pointed out that Xiao Ka's suspected of signing a Yin-Yang contract is more deadly than the Sterling incident that year. In 2014, Sterling was recorded in history because of a decisive lifelong ban on Sterling, who made racist remarks - this is a rare case in the history of sports where the president directly publicly expels the team boss. Other leagues usually rely on public pressure or private negotiations, but Sterling did not hesitate and did not leave room for negotiation at the time, thus establishing his reputation of governing the army and adhering to principles.

Now 11 years have passed, Sterling is facing a completely different scandal: involving huge financial violations and institutional loopholes, as well as the core foundation of the NBA's competitive balance. According to Pablo Torre investigated that while Ballmer and his associated investment of $118 million in Aspiration, they happened to coincide with the $28 million "job endorsement contract" obtained by Xiaoka and the trading period of 20 million shares. In Pablo Torre's words, this is "the richest boss in the sports world illegally invested $48 million outside the salary cap."

Small card Yin-Yang contract gets an extra 48 million? Reporter: This is the biggest test Xiao Hua faced during his tenure

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