Kawhi Leonard Endorsement Spurs NBA Probe Into Defunct Green-Bank Aspiration
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NEW YORK — The NBA has launched an investigation into whether Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and the franchise used an outside endorsement to skirt league salary rules, after forward Kawhi Leonard reportedly accepted a four-year, $28 million deal from the now-bankrupt financial firm Aspiration.
How the endorsement surfaced
Podcaster and journalist Pablo Torre disclosed internal documents showing that Leonard’s LLC, KL2 Aspire, signed the endorsement in April 2022—nine months after the All-Star re-upped with the Clippers. An unnamed former Aspiration employee alleged the payout was designed to bypass the NBA’s salary cap.
Ballmer’s financial links to Aspiration
Records cited by Torre indicate Ballmer personally invested $50 million in Aspiration through his LLC on Sept. 14, 2021. The company that marketed itself as an eco-friendly digital bank also reached a $300 million sponsorship that same month to become the first “founding partner” of the Clippers’ forthcoming Intuit Dome arena.
Ballmer told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne he merely introduced Aspiration executives to Leonard at their request in November 2021 and denied directing or knowing about the endorsement. He described himself as “embarrassed” for failing to spot problems in the firm’s finances, saying, “They conned me.”
Additional investor activity
According to Torre, Clippers minority owner Dennis Wong placed nearly $2 million into Aspiration via a personal LLC in 2022, nine days before the company wired Leonard an initial $1.75 million payment. The Athletic reported Ballmer added another $10 million to Aspiration in March 2023 during a funding round with existing backers.
What Aspiration was and who built it
Harvard classmates Joe Sanberg and Andrei Cherny launched Aspiration Partners in 2013, pitching deposit accounts and investment products that promised to avoid financing fossil-fuel projects. Celebrity investors ranged from actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey Jr. and Orlando Bloom to Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers and model Cindy Crawford.
Collapse and legal fallout
Cherny exited the company in 2022 and later said Leonard’s contract contained “three pages of extensive obligations.” Aspiration filed for bankruptcy in March 2025 with $170 million in debt, listing the Clippers as its largest creditor at $30 million and Leonard’s LLC at $7 million.
Last month, co-founder Sanberg pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, admitting he deceived investors and lenders out of $248 million by faking financial statements and hiding revenue sources. Each charge carries up to 20 years in prison.
NBA’s next steps
Commissioner Adam Silver told reporters after the league’s Board of Governors meetings that outside law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz will conduct a thorough review. Silver stressed the league must consider “the totality of the evidence” and avoid acting on the “mere appearance” of wrongdoing. No timetable has been set for the investigation’s conclusion.
Source: ESPN
