Pablo Torre’s Kawhi Leonard reporting wins Pulitzer Prize, a first for The Athletic

The podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out” won the Pulitzer Prize in audio reporting on Monday for an investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers’ alleged evasion of the NBA’s salary cap through the use of a separate entity to pay star Kawhi Leonard.

The Pulitzer is the first for The Athletic, which started 10 years ago and has been owned by The New York Times Company since 2022. “Pablo Torre Finds Out” is produced by Meadowlark Media and became part of The Athletic Podcast Network in September through a licensing deal.

“To be a show in The Athletic’s network and to be connected to The New York Times Company broadly is an honor in and of itself,” Torre, 40, said during a celebration in The Times newsroom.

Last year, Torre reported on his show that the Clippers and their owner, Steve Ballmer, paid Leonard millions of dollars more than allowed under league salary cap rules through a four-year, $28 million endorsement deal with Aspiration, a California-based environmental company. Ballmer was a prominent investor in Aspiration, which filed for bankruptcy in March 2025. Following the podcast, the NBA began an investigation into the allegations, which the Clippers and Ballmer have repeatedly denied. That investigation is ongoing.

Since beginning in 2023, “Pablo Torre Finds Out” has covered a variety of topics, ranging from the Leonard reporting to President Donald Trump’s influence on team ownership, to secret rap albums and competitive bird-watching. Torre also made headlines for episodes on Bill Belichick and the operations of the NFL Players’ Union.

Torre, a Harvard graduate, was formerly a sports writer for Sports Illustrated before moving to ESPN and becoming a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. He also contributed to the television shows “Around the Horn” and “Pardon the Interruption,” and hosted the ESPN Daily podcast.

The New York Times won three Pulitzers on Monday — for investigative reporting, opinion writing and breaking news photography — while The Washington Post and Reuters each won two. The prizes are given out each year by Columbia University for excellence in journalism, literature and the arts.