The Clippers‘ lone minority owner made a nearly $2MM investment in Aspiration while the company was in dire straits. The San Francisco-based environmental firm then made a $1.75MM quarterly payment to Kawhi Leonard on the same day the company laid off 20 percent of its workforce, Pablo Torre reports on his latest “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast as relayed by The Athletic’s Joe Vardon.
It’s the latest development regarding the potential salary cap circumvention by the Clippers. Last week, Torre broke the story that Leonard signed a $28MM endorsement deal with the company, then performed no work after Aspiration received a $50MM investment from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. A subsequent report indicated that Aspiration agreed to pay Leonard an additional $20MM in company stock.
The NBA has hired a law firm to investigate the matter, and commissioner Adam Silver said on Wednesday that the burden of proof is on the league to find any wrongdoing by the Clippers.
Under the terms of the endorsement deal, Leonard was to be paid $1.75MM on a quarterly basis for four years. In December 2022, Clippers minority owner and vice chairman Dennis J. Wong made an investment of almost $2MM in Aspiration despite the fact that its independent auditor, KPMG, had resigned, and the company was already facing lawsuits worth millions for missed payments.
Aspiration missed a payment to Leonard in the fall before paying him in December, following Wong’s wire transfer to the firm, according to documents obtained by Torre. Payments to Leonard were marked as “critical.”
Leonard’s uncle and business manager Dennis Robertson had repeatedly contacted the company about the missed payment.
“There’s a huge freeze because there’s no money to be spent. So from the finance team’s perspective, we feel like we’re on the other end of collections calls. People are constantly coming in asking for their money. Between those months when all of this is missing – so September, October, November, and leading up to December, the actual certainty of the company even existing is up for grabs,” a former Aspiration employee told Torre. “At that point, are we gonna get paid as employees? Why does Uncle Dennis keep calling us? We have such bigger concerns that we’re thinking about, which is our own salaries. Are we gonna have to go through layoffs? Where is the money gonna come from? But lo and behold. Uncle Dennis gets paid.”
The Clippers issued a statement to Torre, which read, “The details of our relationship with Aspiration are under NBA investigation, but it is clear the company was a house of cards that defrauded Steve and many others. We look forward to sharing the facts with the league and providing them with all the information they need.”
Leonard is well known as one of the worst human beings in sports today, so the scummy business tactics are hardly surprising. The Raptors were also asked to do the same kind of things.
I hope that this new information will result in some kind of suspension or ban from the league. All fans would be better off for it.
Yeah that sand castle is looking worse and worse.
I love that Pablo Torre is releasing revelations after allowing people to comment and defend their actions. Makes their comments look even worse after more details are being released.
Let’s be serious now. There are guys with domestic violence issues, bigots, and a slew of real despicable issues. Kawhi was asking for business deals outside of the CBA.
Not great. But nowhere near “one of the worst human beings in sports” today
Nothing worse than killing trees 😂.
Those guys are certainly in a tier of their own. I was speaking more from an on-the-court perspective, where he quit on his teammates and faked his way out out a great situation for his own financial benefit. I don’t think we’ve seen a worse teammate in my lifetime.
He’s just probably unethical. But, has he physically or emotionally harmed anyone? So from a business standpoint you can’t trust the guy but otherwise not the worst human.
“Leonard is well known as one of the worst human beings in sports today”
He is? I thought he was known as one of the most boring human beings in sports. Or one of the most injured.
Another example of why Trade Rumor sites would benefit greatly if they sorted comments by likes.
Was Ballmer on vacation so Wong had to cover the “critical” Kawhi payment?
This really complicates the “we didn’t know what Aspiration was doing” defense…
If this is true, that is all that the league needs to drop the hammer.
The person who needs to be investigated is Leonard’s uncle. Worst agents in NBA history and one of the most corrupt. But he will skate, just like Leonard.
I wonder if LAC thinks the Leonard signings were good for their team? I would be getting out of the Kawhi Leonard business if i was the Clips…tank start all over, if there are any draft picks left. Bradley Beal must be real happy right about now.
I just saw this from Torre:
“Dennis Wong, Chairman of the Clippers, had a daughter who worked at Aspiration under the title “Project Manager, Operations and Strategy”.
WOW.
NBAisOK, if you haven’t watched the entire original Pablo Torre broadcast, you really should. It’s only 70 minutes, but he makes sense of all the pieces in a way you can’t if you get it piecemeal.
There hasn’t been “plausible deniability” for Ballmer and Kahwi since that podcast. Incredibly, most of the media doesn’t seem to have acquainted themselves fully with it.
To be fair Torres is so good you end up watching him for hours when you never had the spare time. I need to make time for the video but I know every second wont be wasted so I can’t skim…
Harden and Beal get a pass for taking less.. what about the rest of roster, they too get a pass?
Maybe the league should just hire Pablo to investigate this instead of the law firm. I hope he keeps dropping these nuggets and puts Silver into a corner to force him to drop the hammer on the Clippers. These are the types of issues that if the league tries to sweep under the rug, could turn fans away from the league, especially those in smaller markets.
We all know that the only thing that Skeletor cares about is the $$$ lining his pockets.
Maybe it’s time for a new commissioner? One who demands respect and advocates safety and security before profits. Adam Silver sleeps in a suit because it makes him feel important; imo the league would benefit from a facelift with someone who understands the game. Maybe then these things wouldn’t happen.. juust a thought.
@noname617, Adam Silver gave Donald Sterling 3 weeks to sell the Cliopers in 2014, and against opposition of most NBA owners.
It was referred to as the “death penalty” — the most severe penalty to owners in the history of N. American pro sports. Roger Goodell, Bud Selig, or, even, David Srern would not have done that.
He was a completely different person back then I feel like. He’s swam in so much muck since then he’s become slimy. Back in 2014 he was just the nerd devoted to the NBA. It’s crazy how much Goodell, Manfred and Silver changed from when they took their positions. Their entire existences must be miserable. But I digress…
@aristotle what are you talking about the league and the owners hated Sterling for decades the whole scandal was a blessing to them. Banning him was an easy layup.
@blackace, yes, the other owners hated Sterling , but they opposed Silver’s assertion that the Commissioner’s “discretionary powers” gave him, effectively, total authority over them.
If Silver could unilaterally fire an owner, that meant the lines of power were being redrawn to their detriment. In fact, the 2014 Sterling precedent hangs at this moment over Ballmer. It’s hard to imagine Silver determining Ballmer’s offenses smaller than Sterlings, IMO.
Is it true Doc Rivers was an investor in Aspiration? As more details are revealed, it seems the scammer was perhaps the the “fall guy”, thank you Chris Carter for that thought. What a group of pathetic, stupid losers, completely incompetent but now with the spotlight thoroughly entertaining. Like David Copperfield, the Clippers, the NBA and ESPN have a magic act that disappears their fanbase. But regardless of how corrupt this makes the NBA look to the fans, Skeletor will likely cover this up quickly.
@MarkTwain
This is direct evidence, he found the bank records of the payments from Wong to Aspiration and Aspiration’s payment to Kawhi’s LLC.
The proverbial cat is out of the bag, Silver can’t cover it up.
What makes you think Silver knew anything about this?
I’m not sure what in my comment suggested that I think Silver knew before Torre’s investigation showed what happened.
My reply was to the guy who said “(Silver) will likely cover this up quickly.”
Seems silly to be talking about coverups and other conspiracy theories when the documents have probably just been unsealed.
This is such a funny story lmao
Kawhi couldn’t even do a commercial, billboard, tree planting or tweet about the company but his uncle/agent is making sure the guy gets paid while people are getting laid off. His credibility was already shot after the Toronto accusations.
This just keeps getting worse for clippers and Leonard. People were losing their jobs right before Xmas and Dennis the grinch was taking the presents under the tree.
> this just keeps getting worse.
That’s an understatement! I just watched this morning’s Pablo Torre broadcast. Absolutely devastating. And so much more than what the media ca report in capsule form.
Prediction: this whole affair will end very shortly, before the outside investigation by Wachtell hits it’s stride. It’s to both Ballmer’s and the league’s benefit to preempt the carnage.
I think people are missing some key factors in their rush to judgement of Silver. Aspiration was a PRIVATE company based on Los Angeles. Their books don’t have to be made public. The founder only plead guilty last month. So, court docs were probably just unsealed this month. It is kind of hard to have legal team that scrutinizes every investment and sponsorship deal every player has.
Pablo does this for a living.
So you would have us believe that Silver couldn’t close that information gap with the resource gap at his disposal? Running the NBA vs a YouTube Show/Podcast provides quite a bit more leverage and access. There’s a reason the man who forced Sterling out initially came out hedging and “open-minded”.
Uhh…Pablo worked at SI for 4 or 5 years, then ESPN for another decade. His reporting has already lead to one SEC investigation. How many investigations has Silver done.
Ballmer put in 50M. Wong put in 2M. Wong’s daughter worked at Aspiration.
Nothing to see here lol.
People do work at investment companies. People do have ties to other people. How is that criminal?
Is any of these even criminal? Save your hyperbole.
So Joe Lacob and Andre Iguodala should be investigated?
The league will make an example out of the Clippers a) because it’s obvious this happened, b) to distract from stuff the other owners may have done, and c) because it’s an easy win for maintaining the league’s image in an era where so many of its moves are less than popular
Of course, Silver probably won’t go too hard on them—just hard enough to look tougher than usual while not hard enough for Balmer to consider airing out the league’s dirty laundry (such as if he were forced to sell). And the beat will go on, or so the league hopes.
Shea- I genuinely respect your takes on off-the-court stuff, so I’m questioning mine.
I will say that I was shocked to hear Silver say live in his press conference yesterday that he had never heard of Aspiration! The company had paid the Clippers $300M for sponsorship rights and the word “Aspiration” is plastered all over the new arena.
@Aristotle
Since as usual, there’s no reply button, here’s my take:
WRT “Prediction: this whole affair will end very shortly, before the outside investigation by Wachtell hits it’s stride. It’s to both Ballmer’s and the league’s benefit to preempt the carnage”, considering Silver’s saying yesterday this (per ESPN):
“The burden is on the league if we’re going to discipline a team, an owner, a player or any constituent members of the league,” Silver said. “I think as with any process that requires a fundamental sense of fairness, the burden should be on the party that is, in essence, bringing those charges.”
Silver said the league needs to look “at the totality of the evidence” rather than just “mere appearance.”
So whatever happens, it’s not going to be quick IMO. Wong’s involvement through his daughter investing the money to cover the Kawhi payment so late in the Aspiration meltdown will make it very hard to have Ballmer/the Clippers claims of not knowing about the endorsement deal be believed.
@NBAisOK,
Yes, I heard what Silver said yesterday, but that was before the information that came out today, which I regard as a “smoking gun”. If you haven’t watched all of today’s podcast, you should.
It’s in the league’s best interest to resolve this ASAP.
This all comes down to Kawhi being so antisocial. He couldn’t do a few promotional bids to throw off scrutiny. He definitely had the time. He has been injured most of the time and not playing.
I have heard now that that District Attorneys are starting to really look at this in a off handed way, to check if there were any inside wrong doings that may have broken any local, state or federal laws concerning fraud and money laundering aspects. So, it sounds like this may keep getting deeper in the investigations especially if Grand Juries get involved. If I was the NBA, I start trying to end this ASAP before it falls into the season.
The company was already investigated. A conviction was already achieved. Case is closed.
@aristotle
Clearly resolving it as soon as possible is in the NBA’s best interest, but I don’t see how they can shortcut the law firm’s investigation unless Ballmer/the Clippers decide to admit to having done this to circumvent the cap.
Since I can’t see that happening, the investigation will take time, after all, law firms need $ too!
@NBAisOK, again, while an independent investigation was appropriate yesterday, it’s not today because of the new information. The latest info is more than enough for Silver to act. And, it’s clear there will be a steady stream of damning (to the Clippers) disclosures. It’s game, set, match.
The the best thing Ballmer can do is approach the league immediately, take the penalty and stem the bleeding. By the way.
And Silver now has to worry that the appearance of an extended investigation suggests improlerly favoring the owner.