September 4, 2025 • 39 mins
Ben Maller talks about reports that Steve Ballmer and the Clippers paid Kawhi Leonard $28 million for a "no-show job" in order to circumvent the salary cap, Mark Cuban coming to the defense of Steve Ballmer, the feeding frenzy in the media over the accusations, and much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Here we go. Welcome. It's our number one, our number one,
and the Ben Maler Show podcast, the Original Recipe podcast
is ready to go on this Thursday, the start of
the NFL season. Wanted to remind you that Benny Versus
the Penny is back for the new year. If you
(00:22):
remember the last couple of years on television, out's on YouTube,
so try to help us out. Check that out. Benny
Versus the Penny will be a new episode. There's a
preview of tonight's game on there. But there's also a
new episode Benny Versus Penny on a YouTube. But here
an hour one of the Original Recipe radio show, How
Much Trouble? We'll talk some basketball. How much trouble are
(00:43):
Steve Balmer, the owner and the Clippers in over Kawhi
Leonard's reported no show job for twenty eight million dollars
Thumbs up, thumbs down on Mark Cuban's defense of the
Clippers owner Steve Balmer. And what did you think of
the Kawhi Leonard feeding frenzy in the basketball media over
(01:03):
the accusations of a no show job. We'll discuss that
as well. All of it coming your way right now here.
It is our number one. Call it a pay to
(01:24):
not play situation. Say why, We'll get to the bottom
of it. Welcome in the beginning of another night of
the Ben Malor Show. We are in the air everywhere
as we are driveling and trying to chlax coast, the coast, border,
(01:46):
the border and beyond. On the bast hand, universally powerful
microphones of fs are the circus is underway, emmating live
from the Ride the Bumpity Company ride on our Rocky
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as approved by the Cowboy Killer now working in the
(02:08):
dreaded day shift and this portion of the Ben Maller
Show on Fox made possible in part by our friends
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tire installation, tire iraq dot Com, The Way Tire Buying
showb So our lead this hour is from pro Bouncy Ball.
That's right now. We got NFL football coming up on
a Thursday night in the Delaware Valley and the story
that everyone's been yapping about. I thought somebody had died.
(02:50):
When I woke up, I was like, oh, my god,
was little Groggy you ever do that? You grab your phone,
Little Groggy and get a lot of messages. I said, well,
either I lost my job, someone died. Something bad happened,
and they are looking around. It's not that bad. Yeah,
then I rolled over on the pillow. But the scandal,
the scandal of the day in the NBA. If you
(03:15):
have not seen this, maybe not the Clippers, the people's
team and the richest man in all of sport, Steve Balmer.
That's the guy that owns the team, although they don't
call him owners because they're woke. Over there at the NBA.
They call them governors, but everyone else calls them owners
because they're it's ridiculous anyway. The Clippers and owner Steve
Balmer have been accused of giving a star Kawhi Leonard
(03:39):
a nineteen nineties Sopranos HBO style job twenty eight million
dollars for a no show job. Where do I sign
up for that? My god? All of this said to
be in an effort, a covert effort to circumvent the
(03:59):
salary cap rules of the NBA. Now, Pablo Torre detailed
the accusations on the podcast. He's got this fledgling podcast
which has about you know, I don't know five people
listening to it. But he claims he has a direct
legal documentation. He's got a deep throat who used to
(04:20):
work for this company, and he laid it all out,
laid all of it out in an effort to get
clicks and become famous and make a lot of money
and all that stuff. So he says that Kawhi Leonard
was paid seven million dollars a year but a total
twenty eight million through a company, a tree planning service.
(04:41):
That's right, man, that's a lot of money to plant trees.
The company's now bankrupt. Hard to believe, and he's accusing
The podcast guy is accusing Balmer of paying paying Kawhi
Leonard more than his current contract with which would go
against the NBA rules. Now, this guy, Pablo Toy never
(05:06):
found evidence that Leonard marketed or endorsed the company that
you've never heard of. Even more telling, the claimed they
found a clause that stated that Kawhi Leonard would only
be paid the money if he remained a member of
the People's team the Clippers now a former a former employee.
Of course, the company's long around, so they're all former employees,
(05:28):
but somebody used to work with the company claimed that
the agreement between the tree planting service in Leonard was
done to circumvent the salary cap a real Cloak and
Dager mission of the NBA has said they have opened
up in investigation. The Keystone Cops are on it. Don't worry,
They're good to go. Keystone Cops is named after old
(05:51):
old beer company and the Clippers. The Clippers have denied
any wrongdoing in a letter that was vetted by an
army of very wealthy people that passed through the bar
and have become lawyers. So let us discuss the question
how much trouble. How much trouble are the Clippers and
(06:12):
owner Steve Balmer in with this situation now the Kawhi
Leonard no show job report. How much trouble are they in?
So I've got ruffles, butterball, turkey, and samurai sword and
we will combine all of these things together and we
are going to make a delicious pastrami sandwich, one of
(06:37):
the great sandwiches we have in this world. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy,
So a on the Malard scale of the trouble, the
Malar scale of trouble, which is the measuring tool that
we use to determine what is good and what is bad.
So on the Malar scale of trouble one to ten,
with ten being real bad, this is a seven. I'm
(06:58):
at a seven on the of trouble. Not quite a
sentence to the dungeon. You're not being sent to the dungeon,
but we are talking about the reason I'm out of seven.
This is a full blown pr inferno, burn baby burn.
The damage is done. The headline is out, and we
(07:21):
know that the people are dumb and they only react
to the headline. And that's it. The headline's out and
you get into the mine, and that's what people go with. Right,
people react to the headline. I do the same thing.
People send me a story. How often do I not
even click on the story? Somebody will send me It
happens a lot. And there's been research done that most
people don't even bother clicking on the story. So I
(07:43):
did read these stories. But this is a bag of ruffles,
is what this is. It's a there was a visceral
reaction to the oven baked ruffles, and it was baked
right into the discourse. Here this is a Wolf of
Wall Street meets load management situation. You've got Steve playing
the role of Jordan Belfort, except instead of tossing dwarfs
(08:06):
at the bullseye, he is apparently tossing allegedly millions and
millions at a guy who hasn't posted a single social
media comment or ad for, or even a picture with
a tree for this company. No billboards, no commercials, no collab,
(08:26):
none of that. Just a clause, a clause that says
you get paid if you stay a Clipper. That's not
an endorsement deal. I actually have had, believe it or not,
some endorsement deals. That's normally how they don't go. That's
a retention bonus with a fig leaf attached to it. Now,
even if Balmer didn't know the fine, the optics see
(08:48):
the reason I'm going to seven. The optics are pretty brutal.
You can't be the face of green innovation and end
up looking like you used a bankrupt tree company to
pay your superstar under the table. Now the Clippers are saying, hey,
they're queen. Did you expect them to say you got us,
ah man boy, we thought we could get away with it.
(09:10):
But you know what, we're guilty on all charges. They're
claiming that they didn't know that. They just wanted to
help out some tree hugging company and do good things.
And it's when good intentions come with a twenty eight
million dollar writer that's tied to your roster. You're not
(09:31):
planting trees. You're planting red flags, is what you're doing
at this point. Now, the other part of this is
we turn the page here, page two. Former Mavericks owner
and noted woke gas bag Mark Cuban has come to
the defense the Brotherhood of Owners. So Mark Cuban has
(09:51):
come to the defense of Steve Balmer, pushing back, Push
it back, now, push it back, pushing back on these
claims made by the fledgling podcaster Pablo Torre of salary
cap manipulation. So Cuban said, quote Steve Balmer, isn't that dumb?
He said, if he did try to feed Kawhi money
knowing what was at stake for him personally and his team,
(10:15):
do you think, Cuban said, do you think he meeting Balmer?
Do you think that Balmer would have let that company
go bankrupt, knowing all creditors would be visible to the world.
Now formerly of the Shark Tank, Mark Cuban argued that
the scandal actually points to the Tree company's fraud, not
(10:39):
Steve Balmer doing anything that wasn't kosher. He said, they
got scammed. That's what this is, Mark Cuban saying they
got scammed by this company along with many others. Cuban
wrote on a long wordy social media post the crimes
for which they pleaded guilty last week, scammers do scammy things.
(11:00):
The quote right there that says the default assumption that
Balmer was at fault is going to backfire, going to backfire,
says Mark Cuban. All right, that's a good jumping off point.
So thumbs up or thumbs down. Thumbs up or thumbs down.
On Mark Cuban's defense the Mavericks former owner who now
(11:20):
has a bit part of the teams like a cheerleader
for the Mavericks, Mark Cuban's defense of Clippers owner Steve
Bamber thumbs upper, thumbs down. So, just on face value,
Cuban tossed a haymaker of logic into what has become
a tornado of speculation, just a swirling storm of speculation,
and we're gonna give him the big old thumbs up.
(11:44):
I'm going thumbs up on this. Here's why. Let me
make my picture. Cuban's defense was rather straightforward. Now, you
say he's biased because he actually is part of the
ownership fraternity, and that is true. But it's not just
a character witness. It is a forensic takedown of the narrative.
It makes a lot of sense here. Steve isn't that dumb,
he wrote. And even if he is that dumb, he's
(12:06):
got enough money where he can hire smart people that
will not allow this to happen. It's not just some
kind of billionaire bro code. Which do they have a
billionaire bro code? I don't know. I'm not a billionaire.
I couldn't tell you. So Steve Balmer would have to
have the IQ in order for this to go the
way it's going right now, the IQ of a butterball
turkey to have this happen. A reminder that Steve Balmer
(12:31):
makes per year one billion dollars that is just off
Microsoft dividends. He doesn't have to do anything. He can
sit there and pick buggers out of his nose for
an entire year, he gets a billion dollars, He owns
four percent still of Microsoft. He doesn't need to play
salary cap twister with a shell company that just pled
(12:56):
guilty to fraud. And he could have spent the money
to keep the company going, knowing if it was a
sham company. He didn't do that. He chose not to
do that. If Balmer wanted to pay Kawhi here's the
other thing. If Balmer wanted to pay Kawhi Leonard under
the table, and I'm certainly not going to sit here
and say that that kind of stuff doesn't happen. It
probably does happen all the time in all of professional sports.
(13:16):
And there were rumors going back years ago where Robert
Kraft was taking care of Tom Brady under the table.
Whether that ever actually happened or not, the chatter was
out that, you know, you scratch my back, all scratch
your back. But just staying with this story. So, if
Balmer wanted to take care of Kawhi Leonard under the table,
he wouldn't need the bankrupt tree hugging company to do it.
(13:41):
He could just ven bow him from the dark web,
you know, get some kind of burner account to do
the crypto thing. Get a crypto wallet, name it load
management and there you go. Yeah, I do find it
amusing if the story is actually true, and I'm skeptical
that it's true the way it was initially reported. But
if it is, that, I mean Kawhi Leonard actually has
(14:01):
two no show jobs, because I consider the job he
has with the Clippers a no show job because when
they didn't the most, he doesn't show up. He rarely plays. So, man,
you talk about cashing in the chips. Now the last
word here, So what did you think of the media covers?
There was a Kawhi Leonard feeding frenzy like piranha with
(14:25):
blood in the water. There over the accusations of a
no show job against Kawhi Leonard. So this was a
full scale, like a metaphorical military operation claw down, we'll
call it. Why Because make no mistake, Kawhi is different
than all the other NBA stars. The NBA media elites,
(14:47):
the very top of the NBA media world are buddy
buddy with these guys. They are right, and they activated
these same media elites in the NBA. They activated their
grudge missiles and they locked on to Kawhi Leonard kind
of like he was the last slice of free pizza
in the press box dining room. And Kawhi Leonard is
(15:09):
the silent basketball introvert, the man who treats the postgame
interview like dental surgery. He would rather have a root canal.
He's not in the banana boat brotherhood. He's not in
that right. He's not trading memes with Lebron or doing
a cheeseball podcast with Draymond Green. You think he's grabbing
(15:29):
omelets with Michael Wilbon at the Ritz. No, you think
he's tossing back vodka tonics with Steven A at the
Four Seasons in Milwaukee talking about the culture of basketball. No,
Kawhi is probably eating a protein bar with the lights
off in his hotel room somewhere, muttering gibberish is what
he's doing here. Because of that, like the media has
(15:51):
got their samurai swords out. They don't just want him criticized,
they want him totally erased, which means that this is
a coordinated airstrike on Kawhi doesn't curry favor. He's the
last lone wolf for better or worse, and the media
lap dogs don't like and it may not be one
(16:12):
of the cool kids, but he doesn't seem to care
too much. Although if there's truth in this story, then
Kawhi will his contract will be voided. There'll be all
kinds of punishment that will come down. It is the
Ban Mallord Show. You want to comment on this or
the upcoming NFL season, It is on the Dallas Cowboys
(16:34):
and the Philadelphia Eagles. They're gonna have some fun a
partey if you will. Here for the Cowboys and the
Eagles as they crank it up a couple of notches
on a Thursday night, which is we always get excited
for a week one of the NFL and regularly about
ninety eight percent of the game blow. They're just terrible
because the starters don't play much in the exhibition season
(16:56):
and it normally takes about a month for things to
really settle in. Yet we will try to remain somewhat
optimistic as the season is about to kick off in
the NFL. You want to talk about any of that,
anything we should have talked about instead of this, give
us a buzz right now eight seven, seven ninety nine
on Fox No. A buddy of mine did mention that
if this was accurate, the story is accurate, there's some
(17:19):
legal possibilities that circumventing you know, we did Kawhi pay
taxes on this? Did Balmer you gave this money? Does
he have to pay extra? I mean, there's some some
legal stuff involved in it. If it's actually the way
that it was initially reported, which is almost never the case, right,
The initial report is almost never accurate. There might be
(17:39):
some truth in there, but not not all one hundred percent.
Didn't actually get it one hundred percent right. It's never
one hundred percent right on any of these stories. Eight
seven seven ninety nine on Fox, also on X at
Ben Mahlor. That's at Ben Mahlor. If you would like
to be part of the live program, you can send
a comment in any may be used on the air,
(18:02):
or it may not be used on there. We might
just ignore it and pretend like it didn't happen. If
it's stupid and all that. So later on, if you're
with us for a full flight, we have Mallard of
the third Degree. Next hour, get the Riddle of the Day.
Later on, ask Ben your questions are answers fact or fiction,
And those are some of the items on the menu.
(18:22):
Here this our Thursday special, so late on a Wednesday
night on the West Coast, but our Thursday special. So
what is the penalty? What is it? What is the penalty?
And who's got next? What is the penalty? And who's
got next? We'll get to that and we will do
it next.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
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Speaker 1 (19:47):
Bill Miller and you. It is the Bane and Maller Show.
We are up all night every night. We beginning this
hour yapping about that big scandal. Well there be any
meet on the bone. Will anything come of this? We'll see.
Time will tell whether or not there was some real
(20:09):
funny business going on with Kawhi Leonard. Nothing would shock me.
I'm not all in on that. But if you want
to be part of the show, you can call it
right now at eight seven seven ninety nine on Fox.
Also on X at Ben Mallard you can say hello
to Lorena FSR Tech Queen and that it's FSR Tech Queen,
(20:31):
and say hello to the Cooper little bet Ah Bronco
fan that's aw Bronco fan. Your comments can and will
be used against you in the court of sports raiders.
Please please act accordingly and now back to it, all right, Well,
we'll get back to it in a reminder, Rick, excite
(20:53):
a new project that I started here. It's Benny Versus
the Penny. Now it's it's gonna it's on YouTube. There's
little preview of the Thursday night game on the YouTube.
It's it's on a separate YouTube channel.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Now.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
We have the Ben Maler Show YouTube channel, which you
should already be subscribed to, that has all the clips
of the radio show and the Benny Versus the Penny
channel is a different channel, and that's just type in
at Benny vs. Penny and that should come up. Well
I did. And then my old the radio comrade, part
of the Fox Sports Radio Alumni Association, Tom Looney, who
(21:29):
was with me on the TV show last couple of years,
is with me on this and so we're excited about it.
We have no one following it, there's no one there,
but we'll build it up from the ground up. So
we're excited about that. All the NFL picks, I will
challenge myself against the Penny that show is alive and
well Benny versus the Penny, So check oututf you're interested.
A new season kicks off. We had a light light episode,
(21:50):
kind of an appetizer, and then later today we will
be going into the YouTube studio and recording a full,
full edition of that show. So very very exciting. All right,
let's see who do we have on the phones here? Well,
we'll go to the phones in a second. Ferg Dog says,
this fake Kawhi story blowing up just further proves how
(22:12):
far the Lakers have Fallman, I haven't heard a single
thing about the Lakers all off season. They simply don't
move the needle anymore. It's rather sad and it's correct
for a dog. Good take by you. Late night drug
tester says, I have no experience with running shell companies
like billionaire Steve Balmer, but I promise once I win
the power Ball on Saturday, I'll start looking into it. Yeah,
(22:33):
and and let me tell you something right now. Okay, remember,
if you ever fall into a lot of money, remember
your favorite overnight guess bag. I would be a model
employee at a no show job. Okay, I promise you
I will be your number one employee a no show job.
Will you just give me like the Sopranos, just give
(22:55):
me an envelope with cash. I'm good on that. I'm
absolutely good on that. At yep, Let's see what else
do we have here? Not a burner, rights In, says Ben.
In this illustration of NFL players marching to the common
goal of winning the Lombardi Trophy, is it a bad
(23:16):
sign they chose the Bear's punter as their representation. Well,
this is the first I've seen of it. Not a burner.
That is not ideal. You do not want to have
your punter representing your franchise. Generally speaking, that does not
go very well. Big rig Rob rights and says Ben.
Why in the world wouldn't Steve Balmer have a fake
(23:39):
company to move money around? Sounds exactly like what billionaires
would do, or what a billionaire would do unless he didn't.
Excellent hour one monologue, Good job by you, and no
Bill Miller for a bonus. Nature Boy says a couple
of things here. He says, Kawhi is a true botanists
(24:01):
who likes trees. Lay off the dude. Well, I think
a lot of NBA players like trees. If you know
what I'm talking about, But glad to be a tree hugger. Ben.
Speaker 5 (24:09):
We love trees, big, tall, strong, sturdy trees.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Yeah, hey, I love trees. One of my favorite places
to go is the Giant Forest in Sequoia National Forest
King's Cabin. It's amazing. I love it there. Have you
been to the Redwoods in northern California. I haven't spent
too much time there, but it's the same thing. I mean,
it's the same trees. You could even drive through the trees. Yeah, well,
it's the what's the type of house? Trying to think
(24:34):
of the how there's certain houses in California that are
made log cabins. No, not log cabins, I forget the name,
but they cut down the entire West Coast was filled
with those giant trees and they just chopped almost all
of them down to make these these houses. They used
the lumber for the houses. Real Martin from the airport
(24:56):
in Denver, I think we're very big at the airport
in Denver. From what I hear, we dominate people that
work at the airport in Denver. The Real Martin says,
that's the same Steve Balmer who laugh me off, ble
a hotel near lax That's not the airport in Denver.
Martin says, the same bomber who laughed when Apple released
the first iPhone? Yes, what of the great disasters of business?
(25:17):
A sweaty it must have smelled like total ass. Steve
Balmer there on stage, and just you know who's gonna
want to spend one thousand dollars on a phone? I
don't know everyone. Ryan from San Diego rights and he says,
I see the NBA giving the Clippers a harsh penalty
(25:37):
and forcing them to move to Seattle. You don't say,
do La a favor our gift to Seattle? Bad job
by you, Ryan. The Clippers have a showcase arena right
there in the hood in Ingwood. I think a Lakers
should leave that. They play on skid roll. It is
not safe to go to that arena where the Lakers
plays a total crapple. They gotta leave La. The Lakers
(25:59):
should go back to Minnesota. That's what they should do.
Homeless shoul oh no, No, California loves the homeless absolutely,
a dupe, writes In says to Kawhi got a shady
nil deal. Who could have thunk it? So? So he says,
and if you want to be part of this on
x at Ben Maller, I see Mark the full name
guy ranting and raving like you know, the whack of
(26:22):
doodle that he is complaining about this thing, that thing
and the other thing, and going on and on and on.
Now the follow up, follow up the Kawhi Leonard Malar monologue.
What would the punishment be? What would it be? The
death penalty? Are they? Are they going to have the Clippers,
you know, eliminated from the NBA and play a team
short and no. The NBA's CBA, the Collective Bargaining Agreement,
(26:46):
prohibits teams from those affiliated companies from arranging side money
paying players around the salary cap, circumventing the salary cap.
The punishment for violations can include multi million dollar fines.
You think Steve Balmer, who makes a billion dollars a
year just off the Microsoft dividends, you think he's worried
(27:09):
about that, the loss of draft picks, and the voiding
of contracts. So Kawhi Learn's contract would be voided anyone
else who got I'm sure there's other if they were.
If this is real, and again I'm skeptical, but assuming
in the multiverse there is a dimension where this is
absolutely real, and this happened the way it's being described.
So what happened the way it's being described, And Paul
(27:29):
George likely got some money under the table, right, you'd
go down the list of anybody big that came James Harden,
they all got money under the table if this is
what they were doing. So therefore all those guys would
be voided, and who cares about the fine? And the
Clippers have pretty much traded all their draft picks for
the last ten years anyway, so it's not like they
have any draft picks to trade. Pretty much just gotten
(27:52):
rid of everything. So that's that's the reality on that situation.
At eight seven, seven ninety nine on Fox is the
number eight seven seven nine nine six six three sixty nine.
If you want to be part of the program, and
we will go to the phone. Let's start out in
the Commonwealth. Will say hello to Andre in the Commonwealth. Hello, Andre, welcome.
Speaker 4 (28:17):
Man, it's good to be with you. Thank thanks for
getting me a number of things in NFL kicking off
willis you know, but this situation with the Clippers and
Steve Bomber, this is no red Herring. Ben, Okay, this
is a serious situation, and the reason being, first of all,
I trust the reporting, and you know, where there's smoke,
(28:38):
there's fire. So they're going to have to eventually recognize
that something untore took place at Willis Chimes and you
need to Snacker Rudies. But the situation here is Steve
Bomber is a gold star owner rather than the bad
actor of which Donald Sterling was right. Came in Daddy Warbucks,
(28:58):
richest owner and teams four, right, and then what does
he do. He has the vision, we're gonna get out
from other Staples Center. We're going to build our own arenas.
So he executes it right. So this is what the
NBA is trying to do rit large. This is why
they signed on to the ownership we have here in Boston,
which is more abund as far as I'm concerned, because
they got rid of you Holliday and broke up a dynasty.
(29:18):
But what's this owner talking about, Daddy Warbucks. He's talking
about building a new stadium.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Right.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
These modern owners aren't necessarily sports guys, but they're but
they're cast rich that can do these things to benefit
the NBA. So why this is a it's a serious problem.
And Adam Silver frankly hasn't said anything. And it's kind
of scrambling is because you don't want to take five
first round picks away from the clippers. You don't want
to have to penalize the owner of a Steve Bonner.
(29:43):
But they're what they're going to have to because something
untowards the place here.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Yeah, well you're you're assuming it's accurate. I don't. I'm
not there yet. Uh, we'll see what comes out. Plus, uh,
Bomber's got so much money he can and even if
he did do it, he can get out of it.
You know, he can just kind of like move some
stuff around. And isn't that what most rich people do.
They're able to get out of stuff. They can dig
around and all that and what of course. So yeah,
(30:11):
but we'll see what happened. Sorry, I thank you are
the got Andre from the Commonwealth checking in and we'll
keep it going on the phones. That sllo to Eenie
Meanie money mode. Jed who fled. We got to get
him on before he runs away. Hello, Jed who fled?
Speaker 6 (30:27):
Well, now he wants to say ball dog baa on
the main ladio show. Never tell my dreads with cans
is real. His nose guntenues to go. Man, I am
I am tired of that dog.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Dude.
Speaker 6 (30:41):
That dog is worse than dogs that show trash on
trash night.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Are you are you trying to go Michael Vick on
the dog? Is that what you're trying to do.
Speaker 6 (30:51):
There's Michael Vig others MA consulting fees. I'll tell him
what's that's that?
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Is that why he ended up at He ended up
at Levenworth because he took advice from you?
Speaker 6 (31:00):
Is that why I told you? I told you, if
it comes to it, he needs to be a snitch
and the same thing, I'm gonna lined up in the
same thing. But he did not listen to my You know,
I listened to my advice. He I just said, I'm
least tamed the dude and asked, played, because you are,
Michael does not mean you should do you know.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Listen to me?
Speaker 6 (31:16):
And he said, oh, you're boy, But I can't. I
couldn't either. Hey, before I before I go hold full
on pinball.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
You just you just got here. You're already gonna go.
You just got here.
Speaker 6 (31:25):
No, I said, before I go full ball on pinball
and you know me too. Yeah, Florida State did Florida State?
Everybody knew.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
Was that wholest state?
Speaker 6 (31:34):
Not hard knarctic? Or did I imagine you saying you
were going to run across American naked Forest Gump style
if they beat Alabama?
Speaker 1 (31:40):
Yeah? I did. Actually I did that. Right after the game.
I started running. I made it all the way across.
I went to Charleston, South Carolina, and then I drove.
I actually flew back. I didn't have to go all
the way back running. I drove back. Yeah.
Speaker 6 (31:52):
So I was trying to think of some sort of
bonny Fatou like he has no fans running on empty joke,
and I could not do it. I could not think
of it in the moment. I could not turn it.
How's your how you? How did you bucket the other day?
Just nothing else. Just turn on the podcast each hour
and just let it play in the background, and you
get you get played for the downloads.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Yeah, yeah, I think so if you play in the Yeah.
Speaker 6 (32:15):
Yeah, I'm going to play. I'm going to play in
my speakers, and I mean I'm trying to go.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Although you really you only have to listen to like
a few minutes an hour. I think, I think we
get credited, you know, three minutes, didn't three? It's three? Yeah,
we use them for three minutes, we get credit for
the hour.
Speaker 6 (32:31):
So that's exactly who I'm time. You go, I don't
play it. Three minutes is credit enough? That's all?
Speaker 4 (32:36):
I mean.
Speaker 6 (32:36):
That's a that's a full blocks a plus situation. And
I mean I don't they us They sometimes don't.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Great.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Yeah, are you done? Is that it?
Speaker 6 (32:45):
I known't?
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Right?
Speaker 6 (32:46):
Right right, right ready? That's my new pain I got.
Speaker 4 (32:50):
That's my new p That's a that's a cross of
like a Southern when animal dogs took up with their cousins,
they got three yeads.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Dude, I gotta go, all right, thank you? As Jed
who flips es, I'm sure he'll probably call back seven times.
That's normally what happens, So we'll see how that goes. Anyway,
it is the Ben Malers showtime now for the who
Am I?
Speaker 4 (33:11):
Game?
Speaker 1 (33:11):
This is where I pretend to be somebody else. That's
we call it the who am I? Game? So with
two hundred and one passing yards at Cleveland in Week
one on Sunday, Joe Burrow, who quarterback, he plays with
the Cincinnati Football Team's kind of good. Joe Burrow can
surpass me for the third most passing yards by a
player in his first seventy career games in NFL history,
(33:36):
trailing only Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford. A game Joe
Burrow needs two hundred and one passing yards against the
Browns on Sunday in Week one, and he would surpass
me for the most passing yards by a player in
his first seventy career games in NFL history, trailing only
Patrick Mahomes and LA Or I am quarterback Matthew Stafford?
(33:58):
Who am I? That is the question? The answer, We'll
get to it and we will do it next.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maler
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Bill Miller and you. It is the Ben Mahlor Show,
and we are excited to announce a brand new YouTube
channel just for the radio show. Go to YouTube dot
com at Benmahlor Show, or if you're already within the
YouTube world, just search Ben Mahlor Show. Be sure to
hit the subscribe button and you'll have instant access to
(34:34):
Mallard monologues. The very best videos from the show. Go
check out the brand new channel. Help us out there
again just search Ben Maler Show on YouTube and subscribing
if you want to catch Benny Versus the Penny the
new season. We had a soft launch last week, but
that new season iconic Benny Versus the Penny but on
(34:55):
radio and television for many, many years. It's on YouTube.
Now YouTube, but Benny vs. Kenny on YouTube. To make
sure to subscribe to that all football season long, new
episodes every single week. Back to it, we go, all
right back to it, and we will pay off the
who am I? Game? But first we gotta get you
(35:17):
the play of the night? Right, the play of the
night and why not? I had a great time in Vancouver.
Now I realized this is not Vancouver. I realized this
is not Vancouver, but it's Canada. So the tire Act
play the Night. This actually happened in Cincinnatio, but the
Blue Jays were there and Vladdie Junior Vladimir Guerrero Junior
getting her done.
Speaker 5 (35:37):
Take a Liz Brady's So one is roped out toward
the left.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
See he's going back, it's out of here. Back to
back homers.
Speaker 5 (35:45):
For the Blair Jays and flag puts them in front
six to five. They trailed five nothing, but five homers
later they lead for the first time.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
In the game.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
Great job by the Cincinnati Reds pitching staff. That was
on Blue Jays Radio. The Toronto Blue Jays, the Beasts
of the East. They're eighty one and fifty nine now
as they out muscle the Cincinnati Reds and that is
the tire Raq play of the night. For over forty years,
ti Iraq has been helping customers find the right tires
for how, what and where they drive, ship fast freight
(36:17):
back by free road hazard protection with convenient installation options
like mobile tire installation, tire iraq dot Com, the Way
Tire Buying. Sure, I'd be I remember months ago we
were talking about, well, Vladimir Guerrero end up being traded,
is he gonna is gonna leave Toronto? And he signed
the extension and I'm out Guerrero now with Baffle Soco
(36:42):
season offensively, yeah, putting them solid numbers across the board,
not amazing numbers, but good numbers. Getting late in the
year seventy seven, I believe seventy seven runs battering in
for Vladimir Gerra right in the middle of that Blue
Jays line up there, he's hitting two nineties. It's a boomer.
It's a Boomerstead who cares about betting? Shut up? You
(37:02):
lose theres but gress having you're in Toronto left for
dead before the year. But lad twenty two home runs,
seventy seven RBIs he is. I love the on pace.
He's on pace to hit a few more home runs
like the three. More so bit twenty five driving around
ninety runs for the Blue Jays who are in first place.
Time now for the payoff on the who am I game?
(37:24):
This is where we pretend to be somebody else's can
call it the WHOMI game. So with two hundred and
one passing yards this weekend at Cleveland, Bengals quarterback Joe
Burrow can surpass me for the third most passing yards
by a player in his first seventy career games in
NFL history, trailing only Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford. That
(37:46):
is question. What is the answer? Just Josh in Cincinnati
going with Carson Palmer. Tim Conway from Bobby and Florida.
I think you mean KFI talk shows. Tim Conway Junior,
who's a fine radio man in in La over the
KFI Scrooge is going with Chris Townsend who used to
(38:08):
be a pole back in the day there on the
A's A's broadcast. Who else do we have Page down
Milkman Mike going with blind Scott and his Blind Flag
football League. Kathy in Portland. Guess well, there's a name
I haven't heard from in a while, Kevin Caffey in Portland,
who I think stop liking sports. I think that's what
(38:29):
I was from Alf the Alien o' piner y a
tittle from Robbie the Mariner fan, General Sherman from Ferg Dog.
Oh you've been have you been there? Have you been there?
Ferg Dog? To see General the General Sherman Tree. No,
apparently not Beyonce who was forty four today? Oh my
god from Lees Miss is she mister mister unlimited? She
(38:53):
had a lot of work done, mister unlimited. Guests by
Andy and Lion o' lakes. See. Who else do we have?
Cody Bellinger, the Ale Player of the Week from Shane
in Des Moines, Vernon Davis from mister nice guy, very funny?
Else we have Jed who fled that's guessed by malt prop,
Gotty Jags, Ultimate Scramley quarterback, Jed who fled Booty Man
(39:17):
from Ozzie Waz that's his answer. Kurt Warner from Shawn
and Portland, Loreno, what say you? It is not Billy
Joe Gunrack. I'm gonna go with the love of Coop's life.
Jennifer Lawrence Jennifer Lawrence. Unfortunately, No, it is famous. Jameis Winston.
Jameis Winston who knew
Here we go. Welcome. It's our number one, our number one,
and the Ben Maler Show podcast, the Original Recipe podcast
is ready to go on this Thursday, the start of
the NFL season. Wanted to remind you that Benny Versus
the Penny is back for the new year. If you
(00:22):
remember the last couple of years on television, out's on YouTube,
so try to help us out. Check that out. Benny
Versus the Penny will be a new episode. There's a
preview of tonight's game on there. But there's also a
new episode Benny Versus Penny on a YouTube. But here
an hour one of the Original Recipe radio show, How
Much Trouble? We'll talk some basketball. How much trouble are
(00:43):
Steve Balmer, the owner and the Clippers in over Kawhi
Leonard's reported no show job for twenty eight million dollars
Thumbs up, thumbs down on Mark Cuban's defense of the
Clippers owner Steve Balmer. And what did you think of
the Kawhi Leonard feeding frenzy in the basketball media over
(01:03):
the accusations of a no show job. We'll discuss that
as well. All of it coming your way right now here.
It is our number one. Call it a pay to
(01:24):
not play situation. Say why, We'll get to the bottom
of it. Welcome in the beginning of another night of
the Ben Malor Show. We are in the air everywhere
as we are driveling and trying to chlax coast, the coast, border,
(01:46):
the border and beyond. On the bast hand, universally powerful
microphones of fs are the circus is underway, emmating live
from the Ride the Bumpity Company ride on our Rocky
Rocky Road from the world famous Fox Sports Radio studios,
as approved by the Cowboy Killer now working in the
(02:08):
dreaded day shift and this portion of the Ben Maller
Show on Fox made possible in part by our friends
at tire Rack. For over forty years, tyre Iraq has
been helping customers find the right tires for how, what
and where they drive, ship fast and free back by
free road hazard protection with convenient installation options like mobile
(02:29):
tire installation, tire iraq dot Com, The Way Tire Buying
showb So our lead this hour is from pro Bouncy Ball.
That's right now. We got NFL football coming up on
a Thursday night in the Delaware Valley and the story
that everyone's been yapping about. I thought somebody had died.
(02:50):
When I woke up, I was like, oh, my god,
was little Groggy you ever do that? You grab your phone,
Little Groggy and get a lot of messages. I said, well,
either I lost my job, someone died. Something bad happened,
and they are looking around. It's not that bad. Yeah,
then I rolled over on the pillow. But the scandal,
the scandal of the day in the NBA. If you
(03:15):
have not seen this, maybe not the Clippers, the people's
team and the richest man in all of sport, Steve Balmer.
That's the guy that owns the team, although they don't
call him owners because they're woke. Over there at the NBA.
They call them governors, but everyone else calls them owners
because they're it's ridiculous anyway. The Clippers and owner Steve
Balmer have been accused of giving a star Kawhi Leonard
(03:39):
a nineteen nineties Sopranos HBO style job twenty eight million
dollars for a no show job. Where do I sign
up for that? My god? All of this said to
be in an effort, a covert effort to circumvent the
(03:59):
salary cap rules of the NBA. Now, Pablo Torre detailed
the accusations on the podcast. He's got this fledgling podcast
which has about you know, I don't know five people
listening to it. But he claims he has a direct
legal documentation. He's got a deep throat who used to
(04:20):
work for this company, and he laid it all out,
laid all of it out in an effort to get
clicks and become famous and make a lot of money
and all that stuff. So he says that Kawhi Leonard
was paid seven million dollars a year but a total
twenty eight million through a company, a tree planning service.
(04:41):
That's right, man, that's a lot of money to plant trees.
The company's now bankrupt. Hard to believe, and he's accusing
The podcast guy is accusing Balmer of paying paying Kawhi
Leonard more than his current contract with which would go
against the NBA rules. Now, this guy, Pablo Toy never
(05:06):
found evidence that Leonard marketed or endorsed the company that
you've never heard of. Even more telling, the claimed they
found a clause that stated that Kawhi Leonard would only
be paid the money if he remained a member of
the People's team the Clippers now a former a former employee.
Of course, the company's long around, so they're all former employees,
(05:28):
but somebody used to work with the company claimed that
the agreement between the tree planting service in Leonard was
done to circumvent the salary cap a real Cloak and
Dager mission of the NBA has said they have opened
up in investigation. The Keystone Cops are on it. Don't worry,
They're good to go. Keystone Cops is named after old
(05:51):
old beer company and the Clippers. The Clippers have denied
any wrongdoing in a letter that was vetted by an
army of very wealthy people that passed through the bar
and have become lawyers. So let us discuss the question
how much trouble. How much trouble are the Clippers and
(06:12):
owner Steve Balmer in with this situation now the Kawhi
Leonard no show job report. How much trouble are they in?
So I've got ruffles, butterball, turkey, and samurai sword and
we will combine all of these things together and we
are going to make a delicious pastrami sandwich, one of
(06:37):
the great sandwiches we have in this world. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy,
So a on the Malard scale of the trouble, the
Malar scale of trouble, which is the measuring tool that
we use to determine what is good and what is bad.
So on the Malar scale of trouble one to ten,
with ten being real bad, this is a seven. I'm
(06:58):
at a seven on the of trouble. Not quite a
sentence to the dungeon. You're not being sent to the dungeon,
but we are talking about the reason I'm out of seven.
This is a full blown pr inferno, burn baby burn.
The damage is done. The headline is out, and we
(07:21):
know that the people are dumb and they only react
to the headline. And that's it. The headline's out and
you get into the mine, and that's what people go with. Right,
people react to the headline. I do the same thing.
People send me a story. How often do I not
even click on the story? Somebody will send me It
happens a lot. And there's been research done that most
people don't even bother clicking on the story. So I
(07:43):
did read these stories. But this is a bag of ruffles,
is what this is. It's a there was a visceral
reaction to the oven baked ruffles, and it was baked
right into the discourse. Here this is a Wolf of
Wall Street meets load management situation. You've got Steve playing
the role of Jordan Belfort, except instead of tossing dwarfs
(08:06):
at the bullseye, he is apparently tossing allegedly millions and
millions at a guy who hasn't posted a single social
media comment or ad for, or even a picture with
a tree for this company. No billboards, no commercials, no collab,
(08:26):
none of that. Just a clause, a clause that says
you get paid if you stay a Clipper. That's not
an endorsement deal. I actually have had, believe it or not,
some endorsement deals. That's normally how they don't go. That's
a retention bonus with a fig leaf attached to it. Now,
even if Balmer didn't know the fine, the optics see
(08:48):
the reason I'm going to seven. The optics are pretty brutal.
You can't be the face of green innovation and end
up looking like you used a bankrupt tree company to
pay your superstar under the table. Now the Clippers are saying, hey,
they're queen. Did you expect them to say you got us,
ah man boy, we thought we could get away with it.
(09:10):
But you know what, we're guilty on all charges. They're
claiming that they didn't know that. They just wanted to
help out some tree hugging company and do good things.
And it's when good intentions come with a twenty eight
million dollar writer that's tied to your roster. You're not
(09:31):
planting trees. You're planting red flags, is what you're doing
at this point. Now, the other part of this is
we turn the page here, page two. Former Mavericks owner
and noted woke gas bag Mark Cuban has come to
the defense the Brotherhood of Owners. So Mark Cuban has
(09:51):
come to the defense of Steve Balmer, pushing back, Push
it back, now, push it back, pushing back on these
claims made by the fledgling podcaster Pablo Torre of salary
cap manipulation. So Cuban said, quote Steve Balmer, isn't that dumb?
He said, if he did try to feed Kawhi money
knowing what was at stake for him personally and his team,
(10:15):
do you think, Cuban said, do you think he meeting Balmer?
Do you think that Balmer would have let that company
go bankrupt, knowing all creditors would be visible to the world.
Now formerly of the Shark Tank, Mark Cuban argued that
the scandal actually points to the Tree company's fraud, not
(10:39):
Steve Balmer doing anything that wasn't kosher. He said, they
got scammed. That's what this is, Mark Cuban saying they
got scammed by this company along with many others. Cuban
wrote on a long wordy social media post the crimes
for which they pleaded guilty last week, scammers do scammy things.
(11:00):
The quote right there that says the default assumption that
Balmer was at fault is going to backfire, going to backfire,
says Mark Cuban. All right, that's a good jumping off point.
So thumbs up or thumbs down. Thumbs up or thumbs down.
On Mark Cuban's defense the Mavericks former owner who now
(11:20):
has a bit part of the teams like a cheerleader
for the Mavericks, Mark Cuban's defense of Clippers owner Steve
Bamber thumbs upper, thumbs down. So, just on face value,
Cuban tossed a haymaker of logic into what has become
a tornado of speculation, just a swirling storm of speculation,
and we're gonna give him the big old thumbs up.
(11:44):
I'm going thumbs up on this. Here's why. Let me
make my picture. Cuban's defense was rather straightforward. Now, you
say he's biased because he actually is part of the
ownership fraternity, and that is true. But it's not just
a character witness. It is a forensic takedown of the narrative.
It makes a lot of sense here. Steve isn't that dumb,
he wrote. And even if he is that dumb, he's
(12:06):
got enough money where he can hire smart people that
will not allow this to happen. It's not just some
kind of billionaire bro code. Which do they have a
billionaire bro code? I don't know. I'm not a billionaire.
I couldn't tell you. So Steve Balmer would have to
have the IQ in order for this to go the
way it's going right now, the IQ of a butterball
turkey to have this happen. A reminder that Steve Balmer
(12:31):
makes per year one billion dollars that is just off
Microsoft dividends. He doesn't have to do anything. He can
sit there and pick buggers out of his nose for
an entire year, he gets a billion dollars, He owns
four percent still of Microsoft. He doesn't need to play
salary cap twister with a shell company that just pled
(12:56):
guilty to fraud. And he could have spent the money
to keep the company going, knowing if it was a
sham company. He didn't do that. He chose not to
do that. If Balmer wanted to pay Kawhi here's the
other thing. If Balmer wanted to pay Kawhi Leonard under
the table, and I'm certainly not going to sit here
and say that that kind of stuff doesn't happen. It
probably does happen all the time in all of professional sports.
(13:16):
And there were rumors going back years ago where Robert
Kraft was taking care of Tom Brady under the table.
Whether that ever actually happened or not, the chatter was
out that, you know, you scratch my back, all scratch
your back. But just staying with this story. So, if
Balmer wanted to take care of Kawhi Leonard under the table,
he wouldn't need the bankrupt tree hugging company to do it.
(13:41):
He could just ven bow him from the dark web,
you know, get some kind of burner account to do
the crypto thing. Get a crypto wallet, name it load
management and there you go. Yeah, I do find it
amusing if the story is actually true, and I'm skeptical
that it's true the way it was initially reported. But
if it is, that, I mean Kawhi Leonard actually has
(14:01):
two no show jobs, because I consider the job he
has with the Clippers a no show job because when
they didn't the most, he doesn't show up. He rarely plays. So, man,
you talk about cashing in the chips. Now the last
word here, So what did you think of the media covers?
There was a Kawhi Leonard feeding frenzy like piranha with
(14:25):
blood in the water. There over the accusations of a
no show job against Kawhi Leonard. So this was a
full scale, like a metaphorical military operation claw down, we'll
call it. Why Because make no mistake, Kawhi is different
than all the other NBA stars. The NBA media elites,
(14:47):
the very top of the NBA media world are buddy
buddy with these guys. They are right, and they activated
these same media elites in the NBA. They activated their
grudge missiles and they locked on to Kawhi Leonard kind
of like he was the last slice of free pizza
in the press box dining room. And Kawhi Leonard is
(15:09):
the silent basketball introvert, the man who treats the postgame
interview like dental surgery. He would rather have a root canal.
He's not in the banana boat brotherhood. He's not in
that right. He's not trading memes with Lebron or doing
a cheeseball podcast with Draymond Green. You think he's grabbing
(15:29):
omelets with Michael Wilbon at the Ritz. No, you think
he's tossing back vodka tonics with Steven A at the
Four Seasons in Milwaukee talking about the culture of basketball. No,
Kawhi is probably eating a protein bar with the lights
off in his hotel room somewhere, muttering gibberish is what
he's doing here. Because of that, like the media has
(15:51):
got their samurai swords out. They don't just want him criticized,
they want him totally erased, which means that this is
a coordinated airstrike on Kawhi doesn't curry favor. He's the
last lone wolf for better or worse, and the media
lap dogs don't like and it may not be one
(16:12):
of the cool kids, but he doesn't seem to care
too much. Although if there's truth in this story, then
Kawhi will his contract will be voided. There'll be all
kinds of punishment that will come down. It is the
Ban Mallord Show. You want to comment on this or
the upcoming NFL season, It is on the Dallas Cowboys
(16:34):
and the Philadelphia Eagles. They're gonna have some fun a
partey if you will. Here for the Cowboys and the
Eagles as they crank it up a couple of notches
on a Thursday night, which is we always get excited
for a week one of the NFL and regularly about
ninety eight percent of the game blow. They're just terrible
because the starters don't play much in the exhibition season
(16:56):
and it normally takes about a month for things to
really settle in. Yet we will try to remain somewhat
optimistic as the season is about to kick off in
the NFL. You want to talk about any of that,
anything we should have talked about instead of this, give
us a buzz right now eight seven, seven ninety nine
on Fox No. A buddy of mine did mention that
if this was accurate, the story is accurate, there's some
(17:19):
legal possibilities that circumventing you know, we did Kawhi pay
taxes on this? Did Balmer you gave this money? Does
he have to pay extra? I mean, there's some some
legal stuff involved in it. If it's actually the way
that it was initially reported, which is almost never the case, right,
The initial report is almost never accurate. There might be
(17:39):
some truth in there, but not not all one hundred percent.
Didn't actually get it one hundred percent right. It's never
one hundred percent right on any of these stories. Eight
seven seven ninety nine on Fox, also on X at
Ben Mahlor. That's at Ben Mahlor. If you would like
to be part of the live program, you can send
a comment in any may be used on the air,
(18:02):
or it may not be used on there. We might
just ignore it and pretend like it didn't happen. If
it's stupid and all that. So later on, if you're
with us for a full flight, we have Mallard of
the third Degree. Next hour, get the Riddle of the Day.
Later on, ask Ben your questions are answers fact or fiction,
And those are some of the items on the menu.
(18:22):
Here this our Thursday special, so late on a Wednesday
night on the West Coast, but our Thursday special. So
what is the penalty? What is it? What is the penalty?
And who's got next? What is the penalty? And who's
got next? We'll get to that and we will do
it next.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Meller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio App.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to
four perth on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio App.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world. We have a lot of fun talking
about the stories behind the stories in the world of
sports and pop culture, stories that well, other shows don't
seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact
that we've been friends for the last twenty years and
still work together. I mean that says something, right, So.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Check us out.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
We like to get you involved too, take your phone calls,
chop it up. As they say, I'd say, the most
interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe the most interactive
show on planetar. Be sure to check out Covino and
Rich live on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app
from five to seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific.
And if you miss any of the live show, just
search Covino and Rich wherever you get your podcasts, and
of course on social media that's Covino and Rich.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Bill Miller and you. It is the Bane and Maller Show.
We are up all night every night. We beginning this
hour yapping about that big scandal. Well there be any
meet on the bone. Will anything come of this? We'll see.
Time will tell whether or not there was some real
(20:09):
funny business going on with Kawhi Leonard. Nothing would shock me.
I'm not all in on that. But if you want
to be part of the show, you can call it
right now at eight seven seven ninety nine on Fox.
Also on X at Ben Mallard you can say hello
to Lorena FSR Tech Queen and that it's FSR Tech Queen,
(20:31):
and say hello to the Cooper little bet Ah Bronco
fan that's aw Bronco fan. Your comments can and will
be used against you in the court of sports raiders.
Please please act accordingly and now back to it, all right, Well,
we'll get back to it in a reminder, Rick, excite
(20:53):
a new project that I started here. It's Benny Versus
the Penny. Now it's it's gonna it's on YouTube. There's
little preview of the Thursday night game on the YouTube.
It's it's on a separate YouTube channel.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Now.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
We have the Ben Maler Show YouTube channel, which you
should already be subscribed to, that has all the clips
of the radio show and the Benny Versus the Penny
channel is a different channel, and that's just type in
at Benny vs. Penny and that should come up. Well
I did. And then my old the radio comrade, part
of the Fox Sports Radio Alumni Association, Tom Looney, who
(21:29):
was with me on the TV show last couple of years,
is with me on this and so we're excited about it.
We have no one following it, there's no one there,
but we'll build it up from the ground up. So
we're excited about that. All the NFL picks, I will
challenge myself against the Penny that show is alive and
well Benny versus the Penny, So check oututf you're interested.
A new season kicks off. We had a light light episode,
(21:50):
kind of an appetizer, and then later today we will
be going into the YouTube studio and recording a full,
full edition of that show. So very very exciting. All right,
let's see who do we have on the phones here? Well,
we'll go to the phones in a second. Ferg Dog says,
this fake Kawhi story blowing up just further proves how
(22:12):
far the Lakers have Fallman, I haven't heard a single
thing about the Lakers all off season. They simply don't
move the needle anymore. It's rather sad and it's correct
for a dog. Good take by you. Late night drug
tester says, I have no experience with running shell companies
like billionaire Steve Balmer, but I promise once I win
the power Ball on Saturday, I'll start looking into it. Yeah,
(22:33):
and and let me tell you something right now. Okay, remember,
if you ever fall into a lot of money, remember
your favorite overnight guess bag. I would be a model
employee at a no show job. Okay, I promise you
I will be your number one employee a no show job.
Will you just give me like the Sopranos, just give
(22:55):
me an envelope with cash. I'm good on that. I'm
absolutely good on that. At yep, Let's see what else
do we have here? Not a burner, rights In, says Ben.
In this illustration of NFL players marching to the common
goal of winning the Lombardi Trophy, is it a bad
(23:16):
sign they chose the Bear's punter as their representation. Well,
this is the first I've seen of it. Not a burner.
That is not ideal. You do not want to have
your punter representing your franchise. Generally speaking, that does not
go very well. Big rig Rob rights and says Ben.
Why in the world wouldn't Steve Balmer have a fake
(23:39):
company to move money around? Sounds exactly like what billionaires
would do, or what a billionaire would do unless he didn't.
Excellent hour one monologue, Good job by you, and no
Bill Miller for a bonus. Nature Boy says a couple
of things here. He says, Kawhi is a true botanists
(24:01):
who likes trees. Lay off the dude. Well, I think
a lot of NBA players like trees. If you know
what I'm talking about, But glad to be a tree hugger. Ben.
Speaker 5 (24:09):
We love trees, big, tall, strong, sturdy trees.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Yeah, hey, I love trees. One of my favorite places
to go is the Giant Forest in Sequoia National Forest
King's Cabin. It's amazing. I love it there. Have you
been to the Redwoods in northern California. I haven't spent
too much time there, but it's the same thing. I mean,
it's the same trees. You could even drive through the trees. Yeah, well,
it's the what's the type of house? Trying to think
(24:34):
of the how there's certain houses in California that are
made log cabins. No, not log cabins, I forget the name,
but they cut down the entire West Coast was filled
with those giant trees and they just chopped almost all
of them down to make these these houses. They used
the lumber for the houses. Real Martin from the airport
(24:56):
in Denver, I think we're very big at the airport
in Denver. From what I hear, we dominate people that
work at the airport in Denver. The Real Martin says,
that's the same Steve Balmer who laugh me off, ble
a hotel near lax That's not the airport in Denver.
Martin says, the same bomber who laughed when Apple released
the first iPhone? Yes, what of the great disasters of business?
(25:17):
A sweaty it must have smelled like total ass. Steve
Balmer there on stage, and just you know who's gonna
want to spend one thousand dollars on a phone? I
don't know everyone. Ryan from San Diego rights and he says,
I see the NBA giving the Clippers a harsh penalty
(25:37):
and forcing them to move to Seattle. You don't say,
do La a favor our gift to Seattle? Bad job
by you, Ryan. The Clippers have a showcase arena right
there in the hood in Ingwood. I think a Lakers
should leave that. They play on skid roll. It is
not safe to go to that arena where the Lakers
plays a total crapple. They gotta leave La. The Lakers
(25:59):
should go back to Minnesota. That's what they should do.
Homeless shoul oh no, No, California loves the homeless absolutely,
a dupe, writes In says to Kawhi got a shady
nil deal. Who could have thunk it? So? So he says,
and if you want to be part of this on
x at Ben Maller, I see Mark the full name
guy ranting and raving like you know, the whack of
(26:22):
doodle that he is complaining about this thing, that thing
and the other thing, and going on and on and on.
Now the follow up, follow up the Kawhi Leonard Malar monologue.
What would the punishment be? What would it be? The
death penalty? Are they? Are they going to have the Clippers,
you know, eliminated from the NBA and play a team
short and no. The NBA's CBA, the Collective Bargaining Agreement,
(26:46):
prohibits teams from those affiliated companies from arranging side money
paying players around the salary cap, circumventing the salary cap.
The punishment for violations can include multi million dollar fines.
You think Steve Balmer, who makes a billion dollars a
year just off the Microsoft dividends, you think he's worried
(27:09):
about that, the loss of draft picks, and the voiding
of contracts. So Kawhi Learn's contract would be voided anyone
else who got I'm sure there's other if they were.
If this is real, and again I'm skeptical, but assuming
in the multiverse there is a dimension where this is
absolutely real, and this happened the way it's being described.
So what happened the way it's being described, And Paul
(27:29):
George likely got some money under the table, right, you'd
go down the list of anybody big that came James Harden,
they all got money under the table if this is
what they were doing. So therefore all those guys would
be voided, and who cares about the fine? And the
Clippers have pretty much traded all their draft picks for
the last ten years anyway, so it's not like they
have any draft picks to trade. Pretty much just gotten
(27:52):
rid of everything. So that's that's the reality on that situation.
At eight seven, seven ninety nine on Fox is the
number eight seven seven nine nine six six three sixty nine.
If you want to be part of the program, and
we will go to the phone. Let's start out in
the Commonwealth. Will say hello to Andre in the Commonwealth. Hello, Andre, welcome.
Speaker 4 (28:17):
Man, it's good to be with you. Thank thanks for
getting me a number of things in NFL kicking off
willis you know, but this situation with the Clippers and
Steve Bomber, this is no red Herring. Ben, Okay, this
is a serious situation, and the reason being, first of all,
I trust the reporting, and you know, where there's smoke,
(28:38):
there's fire. So they're going to have to eventually recognize
that something untore took place at Willis Chimes and you
need to Snacker Rudies. But the situation here is Steve
Bomber is a gold star owner rather than the bad
actor of which Donald Sterling was right. Came in Daddy Warbucks,
(28:58):
richest owner and teams four, right, and then what does
he do. He has the vision, we're gonna get out
from other Staples Center. We're going to build our own arenas.
So he executes it right. So this is what the
NBA is trying to do rit large. This is why
they signed on to the ownership we have here in Boston,
which is more abund as far as I'm concerned, because
they got rid of you Holliday and broke up a dynasty.
(29:18):
But what's this owner talking about, Daddy Warbucks. He's talking
about building a new stadium.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Right.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
These modern owners aren't necessarily sports guys, but they're but
they're cast rich that can do these things to benefit
the NBA. So why this is a it's a serious problem.
And Adam Silver frankly hasn't said anything. And it's kind
of scrambling is because you don't want to take five
first round picks away from the clippers. You don't want
to have to penalize the owner of a Steve Bonner.
(29:43):
But they're what they're going to have to because something
untowards the place here.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Yeah, well you're you're assuming it's accurate. I don't. I'm
not there yet. Uh, we'll see what comes out. Plus, uh,
Bomber's got so much money he can and even if
he did do it, he can get out of it.
You know, he can just kind of like move some
stuff around. And isn't that what most rich people do.
They're able to get out of stuff. They can dig
around and all that and what of course. So yeah,
(30:11):
but we'll see what happened. Sorry, I thank you are
the got Andre from the Commonwealth checking in and we'll
keep it going on the phones. That sllo to Eenie
Meanie money mode. Jed who fled. We got to get
him on before he runs away. Hello, Jed who fled?
Speaker 6 (30:27):
Well, now he wants to say ball dog baa on
the main ladio show. Never tell my dreads with cans
is real. His nose guntenues to go. Man, I am
I am tired of that dog.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Dude.
Speaker 6 (30:41):
That dog is worse than dogs that show trash on
trash night.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Are you are you trying to go Michael Vick on
the dog? Is that what you're trying to do.
Speaker 6 (30:51):
There's Michael Vig others MA consulting fees. I'll tell him
what's that's that?
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Is that why he ended up at He ended up
at Levenworth because he took advice from you?
Speaker 6 (31:00):
Is that why I told you? I told you, if
it comes to it, he needs to be a snitch
and the same thing, I'm gonna lined up in the
same thing. But he did not listen to my You know,
I listened to my advice. He I just said, I'm
least tamed the dude and asked, played, because you are,
Michael does not mean you should do you know.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Listen to me?
Speaker 6 (31:16):
And he said, oh, you're boy, But I can't. I
couldn't either. Hey, before I before I go hold full
on pinball.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
You just you just got here. You're already gonna go.
You just got here.
Speaker 6 (31:25):
No, I said, before I go full ball on pinball
and you know me too. Yeah, Florida State did Florida State?
Everybody knew.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
Was that wholest state?
Speaker 6 (31:34):
Not hard knarctic? Or did I imagine you saying you
were going to run across American naked Forest Gump style
if they beat Alabama?
Speaker 1 (31:40):
Yeah? I did. Actually I did that. Right after the game.
I started running. I made it all the way across.
I went to Charleston, South Carolina, and then I drove.
I actually flew back. I didn't have to go all
the way back running. I drove back. Yeah.
Speaker 6 (31:52):
So I was trying to think of some sort of
bonny Fatou like he has no fans running on empty joke,
and I could not do it. I could not think
of it in the moment. I could not turn it.
How's your how you? How did you bucket the other day?
Just nothing else. Just turn on the podcast each hour
and just let it play in the background, and you
get you get played for the downloads.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Yeah, yeah, I think so if you play in the Yeah.
Speaker 6 (32:15):
Yeah, I'm going to play. I'm going to play in
my speakers, and I mean I'm trying to go.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Although you really you only have to listen to like
a few minutes an hour. I think, I think we
get credited, you know, three minutes, didn't three? It's three? Yeah,
we use them for three minutes, we get credit for
the hour.
Speaker 6 (32:31):
So that's exactly who I'm time. You go, I don't
play it. Three minutes is credit enough? That's all?
Speaker 4 (32:36):
I mean.
Speaker 6 (32:36):
That's a that's a full blocks a plus situation. And
I mean I don't they us They sometimes don't.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Great.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Yeah, are you done? Is that it?
Speaker 6 (32:45):
I known't?
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Right?
Speaker 6 (32:46):
Right right, right ready? That's my new pain I got.
Speaker 4 (32:50):
That's my new p That's a that's a cross of
like a Southern when animal dogs took up with their cousins,
they got three yeads.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Dude, I gotta go, all right, thank you? As Jed
who flips es, I'm sure he'll probably call back seven times.
That's normally what happens, So we'll see how that goes. Anyway,
it is the Ben Malers showtime now for the who
Am I?
Speaker 4 (33:11):
Game?
Speaker 1 (33:11):
This is where I pretend to be somebody else. That's
we call it the who am I? Game? So with
two hundred and one passing yards at Cleveland in Week
one on Sunday, Joe Burrow, who quarterback, he plays with
the Cincinnati Football Team's kind of good. Joe Burrow can
surpass me for the third most passing yards by a
player in his first seventy career games in NFL history,
(33:36):
trailing only Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford. A game Joe
Burrow needs two hundred and one passing yards against the
Browns on Sunday in Week one, and he would surpass
me for the most passing yards by a player in
his first seventy career games in NFL history, trailing only
Patrick Mahomes and LA Or I am quarterback Matthew Stafford?
(33:58):
Who am I? That is the question? The answer, We'll
get to it and we will do it next.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maler
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Bill Miller and you. It is the Ben Mahlor Show,
and we are excited to announce a brand new YouTube
channel just for the radio show. Go to YouTube dot
com at Benmahlor Show, or if you're already within the
YouTube world, just search Ben Mahlor Show. Be sure to
hit the subscribe button and you'll have instant access to
(34:34):
Mallard monologues. The very best videos from the show. Go
check out the brand new channel. Help us out there
again just search Ben Maler Show on YouTube and subscribing
if you want to catch Benny Versus the Penny the
new season. We had a soft launch last week, but
that new season iconic Benny Versus the Penny but on
(34:55):
radio and television for many, many years. It's on YouTube.
Now YouTube, but Benny vs. Kenny on YouTube. To make
sure to subscribe to that all football season long, new
episodes every single week. Back to it, we go, all
right back to it, and we will pay off the
who am I? Game? But first we gotta get you
(35:17):
the play of the night? Right, the play of the
night and why not? I had a great time in Vancouver.
Now I realized this is not Vancouver. I realized this
is not Vancouver, but it's Canada. So the tire Act
play the Night. This actually happened in Cincinnatio, but the
Blue Jays were there and Vladdie Junior Vladimir Guerrero Junior
getting her done.
Speaker 5 (35:37):
Take a Liz Brady's So one is roped out toward
the left.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
See he's going back, it's out of here. Back to
back homers.
Speaker 5 (35:45):
For the Blair Jays and flag puts them in front
six to five. They trailed five nothing, but five homers
later they lead for the first time.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
In the game.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
Great job by the Cincinnati Reds pitching staff. That was
on Blue Jays Radio. The Toronto Blue Jays, the Beasts
of the East. They're eighty one and fifty nine now
as they out muscle the Cincinnati Reds and that is
the tire Raq play of the night. For over forty years,
ti Iraq has been helping customers find the right tires
for how, what and where they drive, ship fast freight
(36:17):
back by free road hazard protection with convenient installation options
like mobile tire installation, tire iraq dot Com, the Way
Tire Buying. Sure, I'd be I remember months ago we
were talking about, well, Vladimir Guerrero end up being traded,
is he gonna is gonna leave Toronto? And he signed
the extension and I'm out Guerrero now with Baffle Soco
(36:42):
season offensively, yeah, putting them solid numbers across the board,
not amazing numbers, but good numbers. Getting late in the
year seventy seven, I believe seventy seven runs battering in
for Vladimir Gerra right in the middle of that Blue
Jays line up there, he's hitting two nineties. It's a boomer.
It's a Boomerstead who cares about betting? Shut up? You
(37:02):
lose theres but gress having you're in Toronto left for
dead before the year. But lad twenty two home runs,
seventy seven RBIs he is. I love the on pace.
He's on pace to hit a few more home runs
like the three. More so bit twenty five driving around
ninety runs for the Blue Jays who are in first place.
Time now for the payoff on the who am I game?
(37:24):
This is where we pretend to be somebody else's can
call it the WHOMI game. So with two hundred and
one passing yards this weekend at Cleveland, Bengals quarterback Joe
Burrow can surpass me for the third most passing yards
by a player in his first seventy career games in
NFL history, trailing only Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford. That
(37:46):
is question. What is the answer? Just Josh in Cincinnati
going with Carson Palmer. Tim Conway from Bobby and Florida.
I think you mean KFI talk shows. Tim Conway Junior,
who's a fine radio man in in La over the
KFI Scrooge is going with Chris Townsend who used to
(38:08):
be a pole back in the day there on the
A's A's broadcast. Who else do we have Page down
Milkman Mike going with blind Scott and his Blind Flag
football League. Kathy in Portland. Guess well, there's a name
I haven't heard from in a while, Kevin Caffey in Portland,
who I think stop liking sports. I think that's what
(38:29):
I was from Alf the Alien o' piner y a
tittle from Robbie the Mariner fan, General Sherman from Ferg Dog.
Oh you've been have you been there? Have you been there?
Ferg Dog? To see General the General Sherman Tree. No,
apparently not Beyonce who was forty four today? Oh my
god from Lees Miss is she mister mister unlimited? She
(38:53):
had a lot of work done, mister unlimited. Guests by
Andy and Lion o' lakes. See. Who else do we have?
Cody Bellinger, the Ale Player of the Week from Shane
in Des Moines, Vernon Davis from mister nice guy, very funny?
Else we have Jed who fled that's guessed by malt prop,
Gotty Jags, Ultimate Scramley quarterback, Jed who fled Booty Man
(39:17):
from Ozzie Waz that's his answer. Kurt Warner from Shawn
and Portland, Loreno, what say you? It is not Billy
Joe Gunrack. I'm gonna go with the love of Coop's life.
Jennifer Lawrence Jennifer Lawrence. Unfortunately, No, it is famous. Jameis Winston.
Jameis Winston who knew
Host
Ben Maller
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