The biggest story of the NBA offseason this month has been the uncovering of Kawhi Leonard’s alleged no-show job for a company called Aspiration that has now gone bankrupt. The Clippers have publicly denied having any knowledge of the endorsement deal that has led to accusations of cap circumvention and now an NBA investigation. On Thursday, Pablo Torre, who had the initial report about the Leonard deal last week, has new details about payments between Clippers reps and Aspiration.
In the latest episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out, Torre reveals that a co-owner of the Clippers Dennis J. Wong made a $2 million investment from one of his companies into Aspiration just nine days before Leonard got a $1.75 million payment from the company, according to bank statement in December 2022. This was also in the same time frame when the entire Aspiration staff got laid off per Torre’s sources.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer denied any accusations of impropriety last week after Ballmer had invested $50 million in Aspiration while Leonard accepted a $28 million endorsement from the bankrupt banking company.
“These were guys who committed fraud,” Ballmer said on 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.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has retained a law firm to do an investigation into the situation that is expected to last several months.
“I’ve been around the league long enough in different permutations of allegations and accusations that I’m a big believer in due process and fairness, and we need to now let the investigation run its course,” Silver said Wednesday after the Board of Governors meeting in New York.
Under the NBA CBA rules, teams can be fined up to $7.5 million for circumventing the salary cap. Penalty options by the league also include forfeiture of draft picks, voiding any player contract and a suspension for team personnel up to a year.
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