The Los Angeles Clippers reportedly circumvented the NBA salary cap, paying Kawhi Leonard $28 million “under the table” over four years to play for the franchise.
The Los Angeles Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer reportedly may have circumvented the NBA salary cap with Kawhi Leonard’s contract, allegedly paying him $28 million off the books to keep him playing for the franchise.
Kawhi Leonard
Kawhi Leonard
Position: SF, SG
Age: 34
Height: 201 cm
Weight: 102 kg
Birth place: Riverside, United States of America
On the latest episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out, the reporter and podcaster for The Athletic, Pablo Torre uncovered documents showing Leonard received the money via an endorsement deal with Aspiration, a tree-planting company funded by Ballmer, described by former employees as a "no-show job."
Aspiration later filed for bankruptcy. Its filings listed the Clippers as the largest unsecured creditor ($30 million) and Leonard’s KL2 Aspire LLC owed $7 million.
Documents indicate KL2 Aspire was supposed to promote Aspiration, but former employees said Leonard never actually did any marketing for the company.
Although the contract reportedly included a clause allowing him to skip tasks that didn’t align with his personal beliefs, meaning he could still receive payments even if he didn’t meet performance requirements.
A former finance employee that spoke to Torre added that the deal was far larger than any other celebrity endorsement the company had. Leonard’s team did not comment, and the Clippers denied any wrongdoing.
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