A sports journalism podcast has been awarded the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for audio reporting following its investigation into alleged financial misconduct by the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team.
Pablo Torre’s “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast received the prestigious honor Monday for its examination of the NBA team’s financial dealings with star player Kawhi Leonard. The investigation has sparked an ongoing league inquiry into potential salary cap violations.
“We are honored to have been named the winner of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Audio Reporting!” the podcast announced on its official social media account.
The award-winning investigation, published last September, focused on Leonard’s $28 million endorsement agreement with Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC, a California sustainability company that has since filed for bankruptcy. Torre’s reporting suggested the deal may have violated NBA financial regulations.
Pulitzer Prize judges praised the work as a “pioneering and entertaining form of live podcast journalism.”
Both Leonard and the Clippers organization have rejected allegations of wrongdoing. Leonard has stated he never received the full payment amount from the company, while the team has expressed confidence in the league’s investigation process, which involves an independent firm.
The financial connections run deeper than the endorsement deal. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration, and the organizations announced a $300 million business partnership in September 2021. This partnership was established roughly one month after Leonard agreed to a four-year contract extension worth $176 million with the team.
The Clippers terminated their business relationship with Aspiration after two years, citing contract violations. Meanwhile, Aspiration’s co-founder Joseph Sanberg entered a guilty plea in August on federal wire fraud charges. Federal prosecutors accused him of stealing $248 million from investors and lenders, stating that “Aspiration’s financial statements were inaccurate and reflected much higher revenue than the company in fact received.”
Torre’s show, which produces three episodes weekly, has tackled numerous high-profile investigations since launching in 2023. Past reporting has examined Jeffrey Epstein’s connections to Harvard University, Madison Square Garden’s facial recognition technology usage, and alleged coordination among NFL teams.
The 40-year-old journalist’s podcast operates under Meadowlark Media and holds licensing through The Athletic, a subsidiary of The New York Times Company. Torre previously worked at Sports Illustrated and ESPN.
