Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer claimed he had no knowledge of the deal between Kawhi Leonard and Aspiration and would “want the league to investigate” if another team were accused of circumventing the NBA’s salary cap,
“I’d want the league to investigate, take it seriously,” Ballmer told ESPN on Thursday in his first interview since the story broke following an extensive report by podcaster Pablo Torre.
The Clippers are being accused of trying to get around NBA salary cap rules by feeding $28 million to Leonard in the form of a “no-show” endorsement deal with the now-bankrupt company partially funded by Ballmer.
Aspiration has faced accusations of fraud and one of its co-founders, Joseph Sanberg, agreed to plead guilty in August to defrauding multiple investors.
“We are aware of this morning’s media report regarding the LA Clippers and are commencing an investigation,” the NBA said in a statement to ESPN.
Ballmer told ESPN that Aspiration asked him to introduce the deal to Leonard but denied he had knowledge of the endorsement contract the sides eventually signed.
Per Ballmer, the introduction came in November 2021 — three months after Leonard agreed to a four-year, $173 million extension with Leonard. In September 2021, the Clippers announced a $300 million partnership with Aspiration.
“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 also expressed no knowledge of the amount of the deal.
“I don’t know why they did what they did, and I don’t know how different it is (compared with other endorsement deals),” he said.
“These were guys who committed fraud. 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.”
Leonard, 34, won the NBA Finals MVP award both times he earned NBA championship titles (2014 with the San Antonio Spurs, 2019 with the Toronto Raptors). He also has two NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards to his name.
He missed the 2021-22 campaign following knee surgery and has been limited in each of the past three seasons due to ongoing knee issues. He averaged 21.5 points and 5.9 rebounds in just 37 games last season.
In 13 seasons with the Spurs, Raptors and Clippers, the six-time All-Star has averaged 20.1 points and 6.4 rebounds in 733 games.
