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Ballmer alleged to have paid Kawhi Leonard 28m under the table to avoid the salary cap


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Posted (edited)

Ballmer is a special kind of stupid. Hopefully he'll be sent packing just like the previous owner of the Clips. https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/kawhi-leonard-reportedly-paid-28-million-for-no-show-job-with-clippers-as-way-to-get-around-nba-salary-cap-125651365.html

Quote

The Los Angeles Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer are accused of paying star Kawhi Leonard $28 million for a "no-show job" as a way to circumvent the NBA salary cap, according to a report by Pablo Torre.

Torre laid out the alleged scandal on his program, "Pablo Torre Finds Out," on Wednesday. The show — which features plenty of direct quotes from legal documents — made the argument Leonard was paid $28 million through a company owned by Ballmer to essentially do nothing. Ballmer is accused of using the agreement as a way to pay Leonard more than his contract, which — if true — is a violation of NBA rules.

The entire situation revolves around a now-bankrupt company called Aspiration, a tree-planting service funded by Ballmer. Aspiration entered a $28 million legal agreement with KL2 Aspire, LLC, a company owned by Leonard.

Torre attempted to find any evidence that Leonard ever marketed for or endorsed the company, but came up empty. A clause in one of the contract documents between Aspiration and KL2 Aspire LLC stated Leonard could "decline to proceed with any action desired by the Company," essentially giving Leonard the ability to get paid without doing anything. Another clause stated Leonard would only be paid if he remained a member of the Clippers.

Payments from Aspiration to KL2 Aspire LLC were sent to Dennis Robertson, Leonard's advisor who was investigated by the NBA in 2019 for asking for impermissible benefits. The NBA completed that investigation into Robertson — also known as Uncle Dennis — and found no evidence the Clippers granted illegal benefits to Leonard while pursuing him in free agency.

Torre spoke to a handful of former Aspiration employees about the situation, one of which agreed to do an interview with a voice modifier. That employee claimed they were told the agreement between Aspiration and Leonard was done to "circumvent the salary cap."

The entire alleged scandal was summed up by Torre's show in a four-and-a-half minute video.

The Clippers responded to those allegations by sending the following quote to Torre:

"Neither Mr. Ballmer nor the Clippers circumvented the salary cap or engaged in any misconduct related to Aspiration. Any contrary assertion is provably false."

At the time of the 2019 investigation into Robertson, sources told Sam Amick of The Athletic that while no evidence of illegal benefits was found, NBA commissioner Adam Silver considers the issue "a cardinal sin of the NBA" and that the league would re-open its investigation into the situation if more evidence came to light.

The NBA has not issued a statement on Torre's report at this time.

Leonard originally joined the Clippers on a three-year, $104 million deal in 2019. He re-upped with the team on a four-year, $176 million extension in 2021 and then signed a three-year, $149 million extension with the team in 2024.

This story will be updated.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Chopper
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Posted (edited)

This should be a big deal but I have a feeling this will just get swept under the rug. Have this hunch since Ballmer is a billionaire and billionaires get away with everything. Also Adam Silver is a massive pussy.

Edited by deac_tracy
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Posted
31 minutes ago, deac_tracy said:

This should be a big deal but I have a feeling this will just get swept under the rug. Have this hunch since Ballmer is a billionaire and billionaires get away with everything. Also Adam Silver is a massive pussy.

If true, there’s no way this is minimized by the league. Deals like this make the cap irrelevant and it’s the owners (also billionaires) who pushed for the current iteration. 

Posted (edited)

Quote by Adam Silver specifically discussing his earlier investigation into Kawhi's contract, pulled from the episode. Having now watched it, the amount of evidence Torre pulled up is relatively astounding. The source he found to go on the record ties everything together. It's a much bigger story than just salary cap circumvention. It's a pretty massive fraud, too.

Screenshot2025-09-03at9_56_46AM.thumb.png.00ad89a7c16175e788d38a473846d485.png

Edited by Chopper
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Posted
1 hour ago, Tigersnake said:

No show jobs are Kawhi's special-itee

Yeah. "Isn't that what the Clippers pay him to do anyway?"  will be the overworked social media joke of the week.

Posted (edited)

Will be interested to see other owners reactions. Some will undoubtedly be pissed. But maybe there are others running shell games themselves that want it to go away.

 

I have a feeling it won't though. Massive story.

Edited by Pam Cummings
Posted
Circumventing the salary cap to sign Joe Smith cost the Timberwolves 5 first round picks.  The precedent has been set.

I don’t think they own an actual pick outright that isn’t attached to swaps until 2030 at the earliest

It gets sticky when the next few are owed swaps with OKC and Philly it looks like…
Posted

Spurs fans right now
Jerry Seinfeld Popcorn GIF by Sheets & Giggles

The idea that this some how ties in to climate change, left wing supporters being in shady deals, Uncle Dennis getting involved in that stuff. some Alex Jones stuff here

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Posted
6 hours ago, deac_tracy said:

This should be a big deal but I have a feeling this will just get swept under the rug. Have this hunch since Ballmer is a billionaire and billionaires get away with everything. Also Adam Silver is a massive pussy.

Add in the fact that Ballmer is a MASSIVE upgrade from Sterling and has improved that franchise (and consequently the league) in every way financially tells me that yes, this will go away quickly.

 

Paying an extra 30M for a guy that only wants to play 50 gms/yr and hasnt really helped them to win anything is some true Clipper shit though

Posted
6 hours ago, TonyTexas said:

Torre has been doing some very good investigative sports journalism of late. 

Yep!!  And next up..................

 

 

 

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Posted
4 hours ago, Pam Cummings said:

Will be interested to see other owners reactions. Some will undoubtedly be pissed. But maybe there are others running shell games themselves that want it to go away.

 

I have a feeling it won't though. Massive story.

I have little doubt that this isnt the only team doing it but I still think it will go away pretty quickly

Posted (edited)
13 minutes ago, d2o said:

I have little doubt that this isnt the only team doing it but I still think it will go away pretty quickly

I find it extremely unlikely that this is a widespread issue. There may be a couple other examples out there but I'm guessing that's it.

The entire NBA ecosystem is full of way too many dipshits and blowhards for some widespread cap-avoidance scandal to be kept under wraps. It is so, so easy for something like this to be uncovered or publicized. Especially if one team is put at a competitive disadvantage and has reason to believe another team is breaking the rules. 

This is a big deal - there's a reason why only one other similar incident has come to mind for anyone. This isn't like tampering or PEDs or some other open-secret bullshit.

Edited by ztejas
Posted
2 hours ago, d2o said:

I have little doubt that this isnt the only team doing it but I still think it will go away pretty quickly

Yeah, Steve Ballmer isn't just billionaire who wrangled up enough scratch to buy the controlling interest in a sports team. He's the 7th richest man on the planet. To say the NBA is going to approach this with kid gloves is likely an understatement.

Posted
4 hours ago, d2o said:

Yep!!  And next up..................

 

 

 

LOL..oh what a slap in the face to all of us who thought "this all star fringe top 10 top tier PG is REALLY going to take on half of what he could possibly earn for the good of the tam??"

Posted
18 hours ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

Circumventing the salary cap to sign Joe Smith cost the Timberwolves 5 first round picks.  The precedent has been set.

Yeah but that’s back when leagues could actually punish teams. Astros, Michigan, etc lol at this notion 

Posted
14 hours ago, d2o said:

I have little doubt that this isnt the only team doing it but I still think it will go away pretty quickly

If it goes away quickly then that is all the evidence you need that other teams are doing it. 

Posted

I've seen way too many "there is no ultimate smoking gun, so it will lead to nothing" comments, because in the timeline we live in, it has to be a signed and notarized statement by Ballmer, in the presence of 16 impartial witnesses, his dead mother, Jesus himself, and George Washington, or else it's a big nothingburger. 

Posted
1 minute ago, Js1 said:

I've seen way too many "there is no ultimate smoking gun, so it will lead to nothing" comments, because in the timeline we live in, it has to be a signed and notarized statement by Ballmer, in the presence of 16 impartial witnesses, his dead mother, Jesus himself, and George Washington, or else it's a big nothingburger. 

The full episode really does cover everything. It's in the Aspiration contract that the only way the deal is terminated is if he no longer plays for "Team", which is defined as the Clippers.

 

Any of the things that are required under a normal endorsement deal(autographs, social media promotion, appearances) aren't actually required if it goes against his "beliefs". He did none of those things at any point.

 

A company that had Robert Downey Jr. in their commercial, that had Leonardo Dicaprio and the Clintons promoting it, paid Kawhi Leonard more than all of those people combined. And he did nothing.

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Posted

Its sad that there's just no accountability at all for anything if you have enough money or if it's enough money to be hard to deal with. 

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Posted
3 minutes ago, immamac said:

Its sad that there's just no accountability at all for anything if you have enough money or if it's enough money to be hard to deal with. 

Has there ever been an America where that isn't the case? 

He who has the best lawyers makes the rules.

Posted
10 minutes ago, Pam Cummings said:

Aspiration contract that the only way the deal is terminated is if he no longer plays for "Team", which is defined as the Clippers.

I don’t find that part that egregious. If you’re an official sponsor of a team, and that players is traded or leaves for another team you don’t sponsor, it would be kind of weird. 

Posted
8 minutes ago, immamac said:

Its sad that there's just no accountability at all for anything if you have enough money or if it's enough money to be hard to deal with. 

James Franco Reaction GIF

 

There's a legal paper trail over this from the last five years too

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/41984045/ex-clippers-staffer-sues-says-was-fired-kawhi-concerns (published Oct'24)

And the clippers were playing games back in 2019 with uncle Dennis

https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/report-raptors-complained-to-league-multiple-times-about-clippers-tampering-with-kawhi-leonard

 

 

But seriously - how do you punish an org that

  1. has no draft picks to take away because they traded them
  2. has no conference or league titles to vacate
  3. has an owner worth more than the league, so you can't fine him enough to matter
  4. can't even suspend their star from playing because he's already injured 3/4th of the year anyways
Posted
23 minutes ago, Captainant said:

But seriously - how do you punish an org that

  1. has no draft picks to take away because they traded them
  2. has no conference or league titles to vacate
  3. has an owner worth more than the league, so you can't fine him enough to matter
  4. can't even suspend their star from playing because he's already injured 3/4th of the year anyways

This is a great question. I would say that the Clippers have been punished enough by God over the years that they should be allowed to get away with this, but I imagine the league could get creative and figure out a way to suspend Kawhi and give them a hard cap at the luxury tax line but with second apron penalties essentially handcuffing them from making just about any moves. They could also suspend Ballmer for multiple years and you know it would kill him not to be on the baseline acting like a jackass. Further, a large fine might amount to change that Ballmer found in his couch cushions, but it isn't necessarily small change to the other teams in the league if they get a distribution of it. You think the Jazz or Grizzlies or the Spurs wouldn't want to pocket a few million extra bucks off of this?

Or the league could just ban them from playing in the Duke's Mayo bowl.

Posted

Nothing like admitting you paid the guy $28m despite him being a bad fit for your promos

Also his total Compensation was just under Ballmer’s investment amount….

[Karalis] Kawhi Leonard did not appear in promotional material as other endorsers did, but sources tell BSJ that the marketing team and broader management team saw no brand synergy with Leonard and chose not to use his services. They instead preferred to partner with climate-focused influencers.

The $28 million deal was to be paid in quarterly installments over four years, but it was not the only compensation Leonard received. According to a high-level source, Leonard also cut a side deal with Aspiration to receive an additional $20 million in company stock. The stock was to be paid out from Sanberg’s personal holdings in the company over four years.

 

Posted
1 hour ago, Captainant said:

But seriously - how do you punish an org that

  1. has no draft picks to take away because they traded them
  2. has no conference or league titles to vacate
  3. has an owner worth more than the league, so you can't fine him enough to matter
  4. can't even suspend their star from playing because he's already injured 3/4th of the year anyways

Make them trade for Angel Reese

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Posted
1 hour ago, Captainant said:

James Franco Reaction GIF

 

There's a legal paper trail over this from the last five years too

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/41984045/ex-clippers-staffer-sues-says-was-fired-kawhi-concerns (published Oct'24)

And the clippers were playing games back in 2019 with uncle Dennis

https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/report-raptors-complained-to-league-multiple-times-about-clippers-tampering-with-kawhi-leonard

 

 

But seriously - how do you punish an org that

  1. has no draft picks to take away because they traded them
  2. has no conference or league titles to vacate
  3. has an owner worth more than the league, so you can't fine him enough to matter
  4. can't even suspend their star from playing because he's already injured 3/4th of the year anyways

The NBA can void Kawhis entire current contact and ban him for a year. It would cost him a lot more than $28m.

Fine the Clippers for the maximum amount per year for  several years, with a salary cap penalty of the same amount in each year.

Fine Ballmer whatever is legal in their rules. I think it is only like $5 million, but it's the principle of the matter. 

Fine/ban other Clippers leadership that was complicit if there is evidence. 

Ban Ballmer from NBA activities and facilities for 1 year. (This would actually hurt him deeply)

Ban Uncle Dennis from all NBA facilities, activities and representation of players.

Remove future draft picks from the Clippers that haven't been traded yet. 

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