The NBA Council meets in New York next week, and the hottest topic will be the league's ongoing investigation into the allegations that the Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer raised $28 million from Kawhi Leonard through a bankrupt environment company.
The report describes a deal that was a deal of multiple aspiring former employees, a “green bank” that has since collapsed on fraud charges, called “not appearing” endorsement, first spotted on Pablo Torre's Pablo Torre's podcast.
Torre said Leonard never made a public appearance, appeared in marketing campaigns, or posted ambitions on social media.
He simply collected checks through a contract, which included a clause that allowed him to skip anything he didn't believe.
The league's investigators now have two key questions: “What does Ballmer and the Clippers know, when do they know?” And if the evidence is still indirect, then the other 29 owners are willing to punish one of them?
The Clippers issued a strong denial.
“Neither the Clippers nor Steve Ballmer bypassed the salary cap. The concept of Steve investing in ambitions to raise funds is ridiculous,” the team said in a statement. “There is nothing unusual or unpleasant to the team sponsors who have an acknowledgement agreement with players on the same team. Neither Steve nor the Clippers organization has conducted any oversight of Kawhi's independent acknowledgement agreement on ambition. Otherwise, otherwise it would be wrong to say otherwise.”
Still, the timeline caught the attention. In September 2021, Ballmer invested $50 million in his wish. A few weeks later, Leonard signed a four-year, $176 million extension with the Clippers, and Wishes soon announced a $300 million partnership with Intuit Dome. Shortly after, Leonard signed a $28 million endorsement contract.
Former Aspiring employees told Torre that they were “telled” that the deal was intended to get more money outside his Clippers contract.
But, as Mavericks Minority Owner Mark Cuban puts it, even if Ballmer wants to get around the hat, “he’s too smart to leave the note.”
And more.
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