Clippers owner Steve Ballmer explained the origins of Kawhi Leonard‘s endorsement deal with Aspiration during an interview with Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Thursday night on SportsCenter, but he denied that the team did anything inappropriate to circumvent the salary cap.
During the 16-minute interview, Ballmer said the company asked him to provide an introduction to Leonard, which he did in November 2021, shortly after Leonard agreed to a four-year, $176MM contract with the team. Ballmer added that he didn’t have any knowledge of the terms of the endorsement contract that Leonard eventually signed and stated that he had no further role in that process.
Two months before that introduction, Aspiration reached a $300MM deal with the Clippers that included sponsorship in their new arena and a jersey patch. Ballmer told Shelburne that Aspiration was hoping to acquire naming rights for the arena and offered more money than Intuit, which was ultimately chosen.
“We were done. We were done with Kawhi, we were done with Aspiration. The deals were all locked and loaded,” Ballmer said. “Then, they did request to be introduced to Kawhi, and under the rules, we can introduce our sponsors to our athletes. We just can’t be involved.”
Ballmer also detailed his involvement in a Department of Justice investigation into Aspiration, which filed for bankruptcy in March. Its list of creditors includes KL2 Aspire LLC, with Leonard named as the manager or member. The company owed $7MM to KL2 Aspire LLC.
Aspiration co-founder Joe Sanberg pleaded guilty in August to two counts of wire fraud for defrauding investors and lenders of more than $248 million.
“We even found the email that makes the first introduction. It was early November,” Ballmer said. “The introduction got made and then they were off to the races on, on their own. We weren’t involved. I eventually learned that they had reached a deal. I have no idea what the deal was.”
Ballmer added that he has no further knowledge of the arrangement between Leonard and Aspiration, which was brought to light in a report by Pablo Torre earlier this week claiming that it was a “no-show” deal and Leonard didn’t actually perform any services for the company.
“These were guys who committed fraud. Look, they conned me. They conned me,” Ballmer said. “I made an investment in these guys thinking it was on the up-and-up, and they conned me at this stage. I have no ability to predict why they might have done anything they did, let alone the specific contract with Kawhi.”
Shelburne points out that there have been numerous allegations about Leonard’s dealings with the Clippers since he joined the team as a free agent in 2019. The NBA conducted an investigation into charges that he and his uncle, Dennis Robertson, made improper requests while negotiating with teams that summer. Those requests reportedly included part ownership of the team, use of a private plane, a house and guaranteed endorsement deals.
Shelburne adds that the Clippers were cleared of any wrongdoing, but the league indicated that it was willing to reopen the investigation if any new information came to light.
“They know the rules,” Ballmer said. “They meaning Kawhi and his representatives, including his uncle. We know the rules. And if anything’s not clear, we remind ourselves what the rules are and we make absolutely clear we’re going to abide by those rules and they understand them as well. And it’s important for them to abide by them, which they have.”
Ballmer also stated that he hasn’t talked to Leonard about Torre’s accusations and he doesn’t plan to, per Law Murray of The Athletic.
“It’s really his business with Aspiration,” Ballmer said. “So I wouldn’t ask about it, no.”
The NBA has opened an investigation into the Clippers’ and Leonard’s dealings with Aspiration, and Ballmer suggested that he welcomes the probe, telling Shelburne that if a similar story had surfaced about another team and its star player, he’d want the league to “investigate (and) take it seriously.”
Nothing new. Of course he is not going to admit he cheated to get around the tax penalties. No different than billionaires cheating on their taxes.
Oh he denied it. Move on then. Why would he lie? Thanks for the update.
How much do these athletes need? This guy’s making 100’s of millions of dollars over the course of his career and still needs to grift more? It’d be one thing if the games were affordable to go or if I could watch my local team without cable. I’m about ready to abandon the NBA like I’ve given up on most every other sport.
$5 million retires almost every single normal person. Why would anyone need more for themselves?
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!
It is not about the player’s money but getting around the tax apron so the owner the owner doesn’t get taxed.
Lol, that’s what you got from this story? That the players are too greedy?
“We investigated ourselves and found we did nothing wrong.” – our new spineless USA, 1980-present.
So Ballmer invested $50 million in a company that had signed a $300 million sponsorship deal with the Clippers and then for some unexplained reason that company decided to give the Clippers best player $28 million to do absolutely nothing. Got it. Definitely no conflict of interest or anything unscrupulous going on here. Move along.
I mean this is all juicy but isn’t being a Clippers fan punishment enough? Lol. Let Ballmer spend his money they aren’t that much closer to a title
Then every team owner will do the same so no need to have a cap.
I think the Clippers have a chance this year, well, as do many other teams.
Steve Ballmer is distancing himself from Kawhi and Uncle Dennis. Basically, saying that he wasn’t part of the deal between the Aspiration scammers and Kawhi and his demand making Uncle. We’ll see how it all turns out.
i was at Temple during the Mardy run. still have his jersey. good times
Tax evasion language used there…
Just basic rich speak for “we dont need to play by the rules”
Most people do not know that most billionaires pay 0 in income tax through a loophole. Take a loan out with a rate about 3% on stock you own in the company. let’s say $50,000,000 like Zuck or Musk does. Write off the rate on your taxes. You end up paying nothing on the loan.