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Steve Ballmer denies he knew anything about Kawhi Leonard’s unique sponsorship with Aspiration, a now-defunct environmental startup.
The Clippers owner made his first public comments on SportsCenter late Thursday night, a day after Pablo Torre reported that Ballmer circumvented the NBA’s salary cap by giving Leonard a “no-show job” with the company for $28 million.
“These were guys who committed fraud,” Ballmer said of Aspiration. “Look, they conned me. They conned me. I made an investment in these guys thinking it was on the up-and-up, and they conned me at this stage. I have no ability to predict why they might have done anything they did, let alone the specific contract with Kawhi.”
The NBA is investigating the matter and Ballmer claimed on ESPN that he has evidence that proves his innocence. Ballmer said Aspiration asked him to introduce Leonard to the company in November 2021 (NBA rules permit ownership to connect a player with an interested party for an endorsement, but prohibit the deal to be part of player compensation with their team). Ballmer said if another team were in the same situation, he would want the NBA to investigate it, too.
“There is nothing unusual or untoward about team sponsors doing endorsement deals with players on the same team,” the Clippers previously said in a statement. “Neither Steve nor the Clippers organization had any oversight of Kawhi’s independent endorsement agreement with Aspiration. To say otherwise is flat-out wrong.”
Leonard signed a four-year, $173 million extension with the Clippers in August 2021. The following month, Ballmer invested $50 million with Aspiration, which he said gave him a 3% stake in the company, but no board seat or control. That same month, the Clippers agreed to a $300 million partnership with Aspiration, which included a jersey patch deal.
“We were done. We were done with Kawhi, we were done with Aspiration,” Ballmer said in the ESPN interview. “The deals were all locked and loaded. Then, they did request to be introduced to Kawhi, and under the rules, we can introduce our sponsors to our athletes. We just can’t be involved.”
Leonard launched his LLC, KL2 Aspire in November 2021, the same month Ballmer connected his star player with the company. Leonard’s deal with Aspiration started the following spring, according to Torre’s reporting. Ballmer said he has not seen the court documents from Aspiration’s bankruptcy, but added he’s been cooperating with the Department of Justice’s investigation into the failed startup.
“We even found the email that makes the first introduction,” Ballmer said. “The introduction got made and then they were off to the races…on their own. We weren’t involved. I eventually learned that they had reached a deal. I have no idea what the deal was.”
Ballmer, who bought the Clippers in 2014 for $2 billion, wasn’t asked about Leonard’s agreement with Aspiration being tied to him remaining on the Clippers and hasn’t spoken to him since Torre’s podcast was released.
“It’s really his business with Aspiration,” Ballmer said. “So I wouldn’t ask about it now.”
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