The NBA’s Board of Governors meets in New York next week, and the hottest topic will be the league’s ongoing investigation into allegations that the Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer funneled $28 million to Kawhi Leonard through a now-bankrupt environmental company.
The reporting describes a deal that multiple former employees of Aspiration, a “green bank” that has since collapsed amid fraud charges, called a “no-show” endorsement, first laid out on Pablo Torre’s Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast.
Leonard never made public appearances, appeared in marketing campaigns, or posted on social media for Aspiration, according to Torre.
He just collected checks through a contract that included a clause allowing him to skip anything he did not “believe in.”
The league’s investigators now have two key questions: “What did Ballmer and the Clippers know, and when did they know it?” And, if evidence remains circumstantial, how willing are the other 29 owners to punish one of their own?
The Clippers have issued a strong denial.
“Neither the Clippers nor Steve Ballmer circumvented the salary cap. The notion that Steve invested in Aspiration in order to funnel money to Kawhi Leonard is absurd,” the team said in a statement. “There is nothing unusual or untoward about team sponsors doing endorsement deals with players on the same team. Neither Steve nor the Clippers organization had any oversight of Kawhi’s independent endorsement agreement with Aspiration. To say otherwise is flat-out wrong.”
Still, the timeline raises eyebrows. In September 2021, Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration. Weeks later, Leonard signed a four-year, $176 million extension with the Clippers, and Aspiration soon announced a $300 million partnership with the Intuit Dome. Shortly after, Leonard’s $28 million endorsement contract was signed.
Former Aspiration employees told Torre they were “told” the deal was meant to get Leonard more money outside of his Clippers contract.
But as Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban put it, even if Ballmer wanted to circumvent the cap, “he is too smart to leave a paper trail.”
More to come.
READ MORE: Dwight Howard Was ‘Highly Upset’ After Not Being Resigned by Lakers