No national NBA reporter has been more involved in the alleged conspiracy between the Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard to circumvent the NBA salary cap than ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
Based in Los Angeles, Shelburne was the one to land an exclusive televised interview with Clippers owner Steve Ballmer shortly after Meadowlark Media’s Pablo Torre broke the story. And she was at Clippers media day this week to ask Leonard about the allegations directly.
Shelburne asked Leonard multiple questions when her turn came up, but revealed this week that Clippers PR “grabbed the mic” before she could finish her line of questioning.
“I could have kept going but somebody kind of reached out and grabbed the mic from me … and it was like, ‘OK you’re done now,'” she explained Tuesday on ESPN LA’s Mason & Ireland.
The longtime ESPN reporter also took fans behind the scenes of why Leonard did not answer any further questions about his “no-show” sponsorship from Clippers sponsor Aspiration. Shelburne explained that despite she and other reporters agreeing to ask follow-ups to each other’s questions before media day began, the team did not allow any of the others to talk to Leonard.
“The people who were asking, why were you the only one asking those questions, there were five or six other reporters in the room … we had all talked before the press conference, and I said ‘So we’re all going to ask Aspiration questions, right?’ Because this is his first public statement,” Shelburne explained.
“Let’s tag-team. Listen to whatever everybody else asks, and let’s make sure we gotta cover all the bases here, because this is probably the one and only time he’ll address it.”
Torre confirmed Shelburne’s retelling on Thursday.
Ramona Shelburne says Clippers PR grabbed her mic on media day after she questioned Kawhi Leonard about Aspiration 😳
“There were 5 or 6 other reporters in the room… they all had their hands raised and weren’t being called on.”
(Via @ESPNLosAngeles) pic.twitter.com/mJLMEunvDh
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) October 2, 2025
While it is hard to know how the Clippers will handle the questions surrounding Leonard once the regular season begins, the team was able to manage him speaking at media day without too much blowback. To his credit, Leonard was patient in answering these questions himself and outlining his story.
If Shelburne’s comments in the aftermath are any indication, she and the rest of the national NBA reporters based in Los Angeles are sure to keep pressing.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.