Following the stunning allegations against Kawhi Leonard and Steve Ballmer of circumventing the league’s salary cap rules, the Los Angeles Clippers released an official statement on the matter.
Shams Charania, ESPN’s NBA Insider, reveals their official statement in a post on X.
“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 $243 million in 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 2021-22 and 2022-23 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 organization had any oversight of Kawhi’s independent endorsement agreement with Aspiration. To say otherwise is flat-out wrong,” the team said in part of its statement to Charania.
“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.”
The Clippers denied the allegations, saying they are “ready to assist law enforcement in any way they can.” An NBA spokesman said the league will open an investigation into the matter.
“Neither Mr. Ballmer nor the Clippers circumvented the salary cap or engaged in any misconduct related to Aspiration,” the Clippers said in an additional statement to The Washington Post.
“Any contrary assertion is provably false: The team ended its relationship with Aspiration years ago, during the 2022-23 season, when Aspiration defaulted on its obligations.”
Essentially, while Torre claimed it was Ballmer’s $50 million funding that allowed them to pay $28 million to Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers said they were unrelated transactions, and Aspiration (the tree planting company in question) took fraudulent action without the knowledge of the Clippers.
They are saying Ballmer had nothing to do with the operations of Aspiration, and it is a perfectly normal trend that, in this unique case, went sideways eventually. But Balmer and the Clippers fail to acknowledge that it is not a trend for the team sponsors to also be funded by the owner of the team.
It all comes down to the credibility of sources here. What the league finds in its official investigation will hopefully reveal a clearer picture of reality.
Stephen A. Smith Blasts Kawhi Leonard
Following the news of these allegations, renowned NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith went on his podcast to make his feelings heard about Kawhi Leonard.
“Let me tell you what I find credible about this story. When it says that Kawhi Leonard was getting 28 million for a no-show job. That sounds just like Kawhi Leonard… Don’t have to show up. Don’t have to do a damn thing. That sounds exactly like Kawhi Leonard. Exactly like him.”
Stephen A. acknowledged that when Leonard is on the court, he is a “great” player. But the number of times he effectively played got on Smith’s nerves.
“He’s a two-time champion. He’s a two-time NBA Finals MVP. All of that is true. When I say greatness, I mean greatness. Kawhi Leonard is great. And I’m quite sure he’s a very, very nice human being. That is not my issue with him.”
“My issue with Kawhi Leonard is that this brother has missed more than 40% of his games since he arrived at the Clippers more than five years ago. He’s missed more than 40% of his regular-season games. He’s missed more than 30% of the playoff games. And he does absolutely positively nothing to promote your franchise.”
“I have said on many, many occasions, and I will say it again, he is the worst superstar I have ever seen in sports history.”
“My god, ladies and gentlemen, if you’re averaging over 43 points, $40.3 million a year in your career with the Clippers, could you do interviews? Could you do promotional appearances? Could you represent the franchise? Could you show could you sign autographs for kids before or after the games? Could you do that? None of that.”
“But the brother made sure to get the helicopter rides. He made sure to get the private jets. He made sure to get a masseuse. I mean, everything. everything.”
While Smith has been a critic of Leonard for the longest time, he did acknowledge that Leonard brings a lot to the table when it comes to performing when he is healthy. But the frequency of health issues and Leonard’s lack of inclination to engage with the media and cultural activities to promote the team did not sit well with Smith.
Do you think Kawhi Leonard and Steve Ballmer were aware of what they were getting into? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
