The Los Angeles Clippers and proprietor Steve Ballmer have vehemently denied accusations the crew tried to avoid the NBA wage cap when it signed Kawhi Leonard in 2019. Since journalist Pablo Torre unveiled proof of that potential scandal, each the crew and Ballmer have echoed the identical sentiment, claiming Ballmer was “defrauded” by Aspiration, the corporate on the heart of that scandal.
However Torre offered proof Monday that raises some eyebrows about Ballmer’s claims. Seems, Ballmer — who claimed at a Sports activities Enterprise Journal occasion in September that he was “personally defrauded” — continued to present cash to Aspiration cofounder Joe Sanberg lengthy after the corporate was being investigated by the federal authorities.
To totally perceive that clip, some background is required. Sanberg was the cofounder of Aspiration, the corporate that reportedly paid $28 million to Leonard for “no-show jobs.” That settlement is on the heart of the Ballmer-Leonard scandal, because it was alleged that deal was utilized by the Clippers and Ballmer as a technique to circumvent the NBA wage cap.
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Over the course of his investigation, Torre unveiled a number of funds by the Clippers, Ballmer and Clippers co-owner Dennis Wong to Aspiration at varied factors in the course of the firm’s lifespan, together with when it was in a dire monetary state of affairs.
At a sure level, it grew to become clear Aspiration wasn’t residing as much as a partnership it signed with the Clippers, inflicting the crew to ditch Aspiration as a associate after the 2022-23 NBA season. Ballmer gave the corporate $10 million in March 2023, shortly earlier than the tip of the 2022-23 NBA season. Ballmer put that cash in at a time the place 19 different companions refused to put money into Aspiration as a consequence of its rocky monetary state of affairs.
Weeks after that cost, the federal authorities started interviewing Aspiration workers as a part of an investigation into the corporate’s actions.
Regardless of all of that, Ballmer — by way of his funding firm Ballmer Group — despatched a $1.875 million grant to the Golden State Alternative Basis, a special firm run by Sanberg in December 2024, months after the federal government began investigating Aspiration.
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Ballmer’s continued willingness to put money into firms run by Sanberg calls into query the Clippers proprietor’s claims about being “defrauded.” If Ballmer actually felt that manner, why would he proceed to take a position cash in initiatives run by an individual concerned in that alleged defrauding? The timeline of investments from Ballmer exhibits he gave Sanberg more cash lengthy after the federal authorities investigated Sanberg and Aspiration for defrauding traders.
It isn’t a coincidence Torre revealed these claims Monday. The Clippers maintain media day, and can virtually actually be requested concerning the Leonard drama. It is unlikely anybody concerned within the potential scandal will communicate brazenly concerning the state of affairs at media day.
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Attributable to Torre’s reporting, the NBA reopened its investigation into Leonard’s free company. In 2019, the league appeared into whether or not Leonard obtained impermissible advantages as a part of his free company. The league couldn’t discover proof suggesting that was the case.
When requested concerning the investigation in September, NBA commissioner Adam Silver mentioned he would want clear and apparent proof to punish the Clippers, Ballmer or anybody else concerned. Torre’s newest report didn’t present a smoking gun for NBA investigators, however referred to as into query Ballmer’s claims that he was “defrauded” by Aspiration, which — up to now — has been Ballmer’s main protection in opposition to allegations he knowingly tried to avoid the NBA wage cap with the Leonard signing.
