Aspiration, Ballmer, KL02: Nothing before ASG break

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The NBA has hired one of the most prestigious law firms in the world to investigate a salary-cap breach allegation the Los Angeles Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer paid superstar Kawhi Leonard $28M USD for a "no-show job" with now bankrupt green fin-tech company Aspiration.

The NBA's Mike Bass said in a statement last Thursday (AEST) the league was "aware of this morning's media report regarding the LA Clippers and [is] commencing an investigation." They have engaged the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, the same law firm that investigated Donald Sterling in 2014, that ended in the former owner's life ban and forced sale of the Clippers to Ballmer.

Journalist Pablo Torre, a podcaster and former ESPN contributor, made the accusation on his podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out in the middle of last week.

There is no suggestion Aspiration, Ballmer or Leonard breached the salary cap regulations only the NBA is investigating.

What we know so far

• Allegation: $28M no-show endorsement via Aspiration to Kawhi Leonard, potentially cap avoidance.
• New revelation: Documents reveal Clippers co-owner Dennis Wong invested about $2M into the Aspiration and nine days later Kawhi's LLC was paid $1.75M.
• Investigation: Officially initiated by the NBA. They have hired law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, tasked with examining whether Ballmer’s $50M investment in Aspiration was connected to payments made to Leonard, and if this violated league disclosure and approval rules for owner–player business ties.
• Denials: Clippers/Steve Ballmer deny wrongdoing. "The introduction got made and then they were off to the races on, on their own. We weren't involved," Ballmer said.
• Legal Evidence: Bankruptcy documents, creditor claims, and Aspiration’s collapse
• Possible Outcomes: Fines, suspensions, draft pick forfeiture, contract nullification

Friday, September 19, 2025

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer has reportedly invested $118m in total to Aspiration, including a $21m 'bail out' payment that aligned with Kawhi Leonard's payments.

The NBA does not expect to have a  resolution on the Kawhi Leonard salary cap circumvention investigation until after the All-Star Game, Michael Ginnitti, Co-Founder/Editor Spotrac is reporting.

The Clippers host the All-Star Game.

Thursday, September 18, 2025

Kawhi Leonard’s uncle Dennis Robertson wanted the Lakers to give him part ownership of the team, access to a private plane, a house, and guaranteed off-court endorsement money, ESPN reports.

“Acquiring George was one of several requests made by Leonard and his camp, led by Leonard's uncle, Dennis Robertson, who outlined a series of asks for the Clippers in the days leading up to July 5. Those requests included part ownership of the team, access to a private plane, a house and guaranteed off-court endorsement money, one source with direct knowledge of the talks said. They were the same requests that, according to The Athletic, Robertson made of the Lakers and the Raptors.”

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Ballmer has addressed the allegations at a Sports Business Journal event in Los Angeles.

"This is not a fun thing to, to be through. Um, I was personally defrauded, um, through our interactions with, with the company and, and some of the staff," he said.

"Uh, the fraud sort of extended broadly, uh, through that. Uh, we had many relationships with the company, sponsor, uh, activation was through carbon credits, all bunch of complicated stuff.

"But the important thing is our relationship with the company and our players' relationship with the company were independent, which is important under the rules of the NBA. Uh, I feel, I feel quite confident in that, that we abided the rules and, uh, and so I welcome the investigation that the NBA is doing.

"It's a great way from our perspective to get the facts out there.

"Uh, and as I say, there's nothing, there's nothing fun about being highlighted in this way. It's a whole lot more fun, uh, to be highlighted for building a great arena. Uh, but this, this too shall pass and like I said, I feel very good about what we did and we welcome the NBA taking a look at it and hopefully agreeing with us."

Saturday, September 13, 2025

Polarising NBA commentator Kendrick Perkins has weighed in with a unique defense of Kawhi Leonard on NBA Today, admitting that he didn't read his playing contracts and questioned whether other players did too.

“If these allegations are true, I have a problem… He [Kawhi Leonard] is their biggest asset. You’re supposed to protect your asset," Perkins said.

“If these allegations are true, then I hate that Kawhi Leonard is the face of this conversation.

“Because it’s Steve Ballmer’s job and Uncle Dennis’, who represents Kawhi Leonard, job to protect Kawhi Leonard and make sure they do their due diligence and never put a guy in this situation.

“How many guys actually read their contracts in the NBA? I never read mine. That’s why you have agents in place…

“All we do is sign the paperwork because we trust that the people representing us are gonna put us in the right position and protect us.”

Sunday, September 14, 2025

In response to Aspiration co-founder Andrei Cherny claims that Kawhi Leonard’s $28M endorsement deal was not a “no-show job”, Pablo Torre was given this statement by three of the bankrupt business's most senior executives.

"At the time of the KL2 Aspire, LLC endorsement arrangement with Kawhi Leonard (the “Leonard Deal”), we served as Aspiration’s Chief Legal Officer, Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Financial Officer, reporting directly to then-CEO Andrei Cherny," the statement said.

"The Leonard Deal was presented to the company as a completed arrangement and executed by Mr. Cherny despite significant objections from members of this senior management team. It did not reflect any strategy previously communicated to us, nor was it reviewed through Aspiration’s Investment Committee process. For comparison, a transaction of similar size ($29.5m) in the same period was subject to that review, as described in the federal court decision in Zero Carbon Holdings, LLC and Four Thirteen, LLC v. Aspiration Partners, Inc., No. 23-cv-05262 (LJL) (S.D.N.Y. May 1, 2024).

"The team expressed concerns at the time regarding the high cost of the agreement and its lack of alignment with Aspiration’s brand and business strategy. While subsequent marketing efforts were undertaken, they were ultimately discontinued and should not be interpreted as support for the deal itself.

"In our judgment, the Leonard Deal was not in the company’s best interest. It was strategically difficult to justify then, and it remains so today."

Rojeh Avanesian
Former Chief Financial Officer, Aspiration

Mike Shuckerow
Former Chief Operating Officer and Chief Legal Officer, Aspiration

Eric Anderson
Former Chief Technology Officer, Aspiration

Friday, September 12, 2025

Pablo Torre reveals one of Kawhi’s $1.75M no-show payments was “running late”, a Clippers co-owner invested $1.99M in Aspiration and then Kawhi was paid nine days later, Kawhi got paid.

Thursday, September 11, 2025

Adam Silver has addressed the allegations and investigations as part of an owners meeting in New York.

"The burden [of proof] is on the league if we're going to discipline a team, owner or player ... As a matter of fundamental fairness I would be reluctant to act if there was only an appearance of impropriety ... The public at times reaches conclusions that later turn out to be false," he said.

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

Pablo Torre appeared on Nothing Personal with David Samson to reinforce his reporting of the now smouldering scandal, defending his sources.

"These are people that I stake my reputation on, and— and so the question then for me and how I vet is how can I cross check whether what they say is true, and that’s why I took seven months to do this and why there are seven of them, which is, by the way, like more than typically is required, right, to— to go with something,” he said.

“Maybe my failure was to say, and none of my seven sources is going to jail, or none of my seven sources has pled guilty, and I feel comfortable declaring that now. My sources are not Joe Sandberg or Ibrahim Al Husaini, who’s the other guy who pled guilty, uh, in— in that scheme with Joe.”

“What I also demanded was like the highest— cause, again, I— I try— I’m not— look, the show is not called Pablo Torre Is Right. The show is Pablo Torre Finds Out, so I will get things wrong at some point, I am sure— I am sure of it. What I tried to— what— what I tried to do is avoid it, David.”

Sunday, September 7, 2025

Ballmer "will be grilled by other owners at next week’s Board of Governors meeting in New York", Sports Business Journal reports.

“The timing is unbelievable because every owner will be there,” said one executive, granted anonymity by SBJ so he could speak openly.

“It’ll be very, very interesting because I think Ballmer’s not loved -- he’s liked. He’s not a negative, he’s a positive. I mean, if you had a magic wand, you’d shut him up a little bit during meetings maybe. But he’s an asset, and I think [Commissioner] Adam [Silver] would consider him as this new generation of what you wish for in owners.

"So this is a whole new incredible set of circumstances.”

Steve Ballmer interview on Saturday, September 6, 2025

"These were guys who committed fraud," Ballmer told ESPN.

"Look, they conned me. They conned me. 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.

"We even found the email that makes the first introduction. It was early November

"The introduction got made and then they were off to the races on, on their own. We weren't involved.

"I had no control over this company. I owned less than 3% of the company

"I had no board seat. I had no control. Heck, it was a fraudulent company. It's possible nobody had any control."

Ballmer also said he had not spoken to Leonard since the allegation was made.

Torre, with a stack of papers on his desk, revealed internal Aspiration documents showed Ballmer invested $50 million via his personal LLC on Sept. 14, 2021. Two-time NBA champion and two-time Finals MVP Leonard re-signed with the Clippers in 2021 on four-year, $176.3 million max contract.

ESPN via Torre's podcast reported: "A clause in one of the documents purportedly obtained by Torre states that the deal between Aspiration and KL2 Aspire would be voided if Leonard left the Clippers."

An anonymous source, whose voice was disguised on the podcast, told Torre: "The single largest payment to an individual for marketing that Aspiration ever made has completely evaded all press. It’s honestly incredible. And it was a very strong pain point for our marketing team. And honestly, like, altruistically, their job is to get Aspiration’s name out there. They don’t understand why the largest part of their budget that they’ve actually blown is not delivering."

The Clippers responded to the accusation yesterday: "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. Steve invested because Aspiration’s co-founders presented themselves as committed to doing right by their customers while protecting the environment.

"After a long campaign of market manipulation, which defrauded not only Steve but numerous other investors and sports teams, Aspiration filed for bankruptcy. Its co-founder, Joseph Sanberg, recently pleaded guilty to a $243 million fraud.

"Neither Steve nor the Clippers had knowledge of any improper activity by Aspiration or its co-founder until after the government initiated its investigation.

"Aspiration was a team sponsor for the 2021–2022 and 2022–2023 seasons before defaulting on its contract.

"There is nothing unusual or untoward about team sponsors doing endorsement deals with players on the same team. Neither Steve nor the Clippers organisation had any oversight of Kawhi’s independent endorsement agreement with Aspiration. To say otherwise is flat-out wrong.

The Clippers take NBA compliance extremely seriously, fully respect the league’s rules, and welcome its investigation related to Aspiration.

"The Clippers will also continue to cooperate with law enforcement in its investigation into Aspiration’s blatantly fraudulent activity."

🌱 What Aspiration Claimed to Be

✅ In short: Aspiration was a “green banking” fintech start-up that tried to blend finance and climate activism, hit the NBA through a massive Clippers naming deal, collapsed financially, and is now central to the Ballmer/Clippers investigation.

• Founded in 2013 by Andrei Cherny and Joseph Sanberg.
• Marketed as a sustainable banking alternative, appealing to socially and environmentally conscious consumers.
• Offered:
  • Spend & Save Accounts (checking-style banking).
  • Investment products marketed as “fossil fuel-free.”
  • A credit card promising to offset purchases by planting trees.
  • “Aspiration Plus” subscription service.
• In 2021, Aspiration signed a 20-year, $300 million naming-rights deal with the LA Clippers for their new arena in Inglewood — originally called the Aspiration Center (later rebranded the Intuit Dome when the Aspiration deal collapsed).
• The company also struck marketing partnerships with celebrities and athletes, including the now-disputed $28M Kawhi Leonard endorsement deal.
• Despite raising more than $600 million in venture funding (from investors such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Orlando Bloom), Aspiration’s business model struggled: Few consumers used its products at scale; and its climate-focused promises (tree planting, carbon offsets) were criticised as greenwashing.
• In 2023–2024, the company tried to go public via SPAC but failed.
• By mid-2025, Aspiration had filed for bankruptcy, with creditors including the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard’s entity (KL2 Aspire LLC) still owed millions.

Kawhi Leonard's Contract with the Los Angeles Clippers

• Signed as a free agent: Kawhi departed the Toronto Raptors in 2019 and joined the Clippers, opting out of his final year in Toronto to take that opportunity. ‍
• Re-signed in August 2021: Leonard secured a four-year, $176.3 million max contract, which included a player option in the fourth year.‍
• In January 2024, Kawhi agreed to an extension that further solidified his role with the Clippers:
• The extension spans three years, covering the seasons from 2024–25 through 2026–27.

• Reported values differ slightly depending on sources, with estimates around:
  • $152.4 million (most commonly cited)‍

• The extension spans three years and approximately $149.5 million — with an average annual salary of about $49.8 million, fully guaranteed.

🔎 The Timberwolves – Joe Smith Scandal (2000)

• Background: The Timberwolves secretly agreed to pay forward Joe Smith far below market value for several years, with the promise of a massive contract once the team regained his Bird Rights.
• This “under-the-table” arrangement was designed to save salary cap space while keeping Smith long-term.
• Discovery: The scheme came to light after documents surfaced during Smith’s agent change. The NBA investigated and confirmed the violations.
• Penalties Imposed:
  • $3.5 million fine (a record at the time).
  • Forfeiture of five first-round draft picks (2001–2005). The league later reinstated two, but the Wolves still lost three crucial first-rounders.
  • Joe Smith’s contract voided, making him a free agent.
  • Team executives suspended (including GM Kevin McHale, though he kept his job).
• Impact: The Wolves lost years of roster-building leverage, stunting their ability to build around Kevin Garnett during his prime. Many analysts still argue it permanently set back the franchise.

⚖️ Lessons for the Clippers / Ballmer Case

If the NBA determines that Steve Ballmer and the Clippers arranged a “no-show endorsement” for Kawhi Leonard (via Aspiration) to circumvent the cap:

• Forfeited draft picks are the most likely consequence, given precedent.
• Heavy fines in the multi-millions could be imposed.
• Voiding of contracts (though unlikely with Kawhi due to complexity, it’s not impossible).
• Executive suspensions (GM or ownership could face bans from team operations).
• Damage to the team’s ability to compete in the near future — just as it crippled Minnesota in the 2000s.

⚠️ Key Differences Now

• The CBA has updated rules and penalties, and the NBA has more modern compliance systems.
• The league may also want to set an example in a high-profile, billion-dollar ownership era (Ballmer, Intuit Dome, L.A. market).
• The involvement of a bankrupt third-party company (Aspiration) adds a legal/economic wrinkle that wasn’t in the Joe Smith case.

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