Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer rejected suggestions that the team helped arrange Kawhi Leonard’s disputed endorsement agreement with the now-bankrupt financial firm Aspiration.
Speaking on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” with Ramona Shelburne, Ballmer said Aspiration approached him in November 2021—shortly after Leonard signed a four-year, $176 million contract extension—asking for an introduction to the All-Star forward. “I made the introduction. That was it,” Ballmer stated. “We were done with Kawhi. We were done with Aspiration. They did their deal on their own. We weren’t involved.”
Aspiration already had a separate relationship with the franchise. Two months before Ballmer connected the company with Leonard, the firm reached a $300 million sponsorship agreement with the Clippers that included a jersey patch and an equity stake in the team’s future Intuit Dome arena. Ballmer added that Aspiration even tried to outbid Intuit for arena naming rights.
The company filed for bankruptcy in March. Court documents listed KL2 Aspire LLC—an entity managed by Leonard—as a creditor owed roughly $7 million. Co-founder Joe Sanberg later pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud connected to more than $248 million in losses.
“These guys committed fraud. They conned me,” Ballmer said, adding that he invested personally in the firm. “I have no ability to predict why they did what they did, let alone the specific contract with Kawhi.”
Scrutiny intensified this week after journalist Pablo Torre characterized Leonard’s Aspiration endorsement as a “no-show” deal that involved little or no promotional work. Ballmer said he is unaware of those specifics and does not plan to ask: “It’s really his business with Aspiration.”
Leonard’s negotiations have drawn league attention before. In 2019 the NBA investigated claims that Leonard and his uncle, Dennis Robertson, sought improper perks—ranging from partial team ownership to private flights—during free-agency talks. The league cleared the Clippers at that time but left open the possibility of revisiting the matter if new evidence emerged.
“They know the rules,” Ballmer said of Leonard and his representatives. “We know the rules. If anything’s unclear, we remind ourselves and make absolutely clear we’re going to abide by them, and they understand them as well.”
Source: Hoops Wire
