Adam Silver Walks Back Claim He’d Never Heard of Aspiration

One week after NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he had never heard of Aspiration, the commissioner appears to have changed his tune.

“If I said I never heard of it, I meant in the context of the accusations here. I mean, I certainly was aware of the brand,” Silver said Tuesday at the Front Office Sports Tuned In summit.

Aspiration, a bankrupt financial sustainability company, is tied to an ongoing investigation by the NBA surrounding potential salary-cap circumvention by the Clippers. The podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out published an investigative report two weeks ago that alleged Aspiration paid $28 million to Clippers star Kawhi Leonard.

At a press conference following an NBA Board of Governors meeting Sept. 10, Silver mentioned he had not heard of Aspiration when answering several questions about the investigation.

“When the podcast came out, it was news to me,” Silver said. “I’d frankly never heard of the company Aspiration before. And I’d never heard a whiff of anything around an endorsement deal with Kawhi, or anything around engagement with the Los Angeles Clippers. So it was all new to me.”

Silver admitted Tuesday that Torre’s podcast was the first time he had heard of any potential cap circumvention surrounding the Clippers and Aspiration. He added that additional media coverage from Torre and other outlets are part of the investigation, but that the league takes it at “face value.”

“I’m a lawyer. I believe in due process. I believe in fairness. We will be thorough, but we will begin with a presumption of innocence, not a presumption of guilt, which is what I keep reading about. Then we will follow the facts,” Silver said.

He said that there is no new information about the progress of the investigation, but reiterated that the league is throwing all its resources at it.

“We will get to the bottom of this,” Silver said.

The NBA has hired an outside law firm to lead its ongoing investigation. Silver said that regardless of the outcome, the league is expected to review its internal process in evaluating similar deals. 

“When this concludes, we’ll take a fresh look at our rules in terms of companies that players are investing in and owners. We have rules now. We have lines. But there’s not a complete prohibition,” Silver said.