Kawhi Leonard investigation: Clippers release statement as more payments from Steve Ballmer come to light

While the NBA’s investigation is ongoing into alleged cap circumvention by the Los Angeles Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer by way of a “no-show” endorsement deal for Kawhi Leonard with now-bankrupt company Aspiration, more details are coming to light.

Investigative sports journalist Pablo Torre previously broke the story on his podcast, “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” and a fourth episode dedicated to this scandal released Thursday morning offers further reporting and more details about alleged funding from Ballmer and the Clippers into Aspiration, even after it was already clear the company was faltering. The episode features some key unveilings in this latest installment in the Leonard saga. 

The biggest: three installments of prepaid carbon credit purchases from the Clippers in 2022 — two years before the Intuit Dome even opened — totaling $56 million. Those payments were made from April 1, 2022, to June 17, 2022, and aligned closely with Leonard signing his deal with Aspiration and the due date of his first quarterly payment. A $32 million purchase of carbon credits was made on April 4, the same day Leonard signed his endorsement deal. Again, that deal was never disclosed publicly, and Leonard never fulfilled any actual duties for it other than getting paid. 

That is notable because Mark Cuban, who has defended Ballmer publicly in this scandal, wrote on Twitter that the “easier and safer” way to circumvent the CBA would’ve been to purchase more carbon credits rather than simply investing in the company.

In a statement, the Clippers explain the massive purchases in carbon credits weren’t just to offset the Intuit Dome, but rather to go “far beyond” those requirements:

Steve and his family are focused on sustainability, which is why Intuit Dome was designed to be a carbon neutral building from its inception and to achieve LEED Zero status over time. 

Our development agreements for the arena included mandates to buy carbon credits, but after studying the issue of neutrality, we went far beyond those requirements, exploring ways to address emissions from our fans and contracting with Aspiration to directly purchase carbon offsets, as well as broker the acquisition of additional offsets. 

Some of those commitments were built into the sponsorship deal with Aspiration — totally separate of the investment in the company — and we made payments to Aspiration until the company was unable to fulfill their responsibilities.

The effort reflects Steve wanting to set a positive example and raise awareness of the growing and important role of voluntary carbon markets. Unfortunately he was duped on the investment and some parts of this agreement, as were many other investors and employees.”

Torre also dug into a $10 million investment made by Ballmer’s LLC in March 2023. Ballmer’s main line of defense has been that he was defrauded by Aspiration, but this investment was made well after Aspiration’s troubles began and all of those problems had to be disclosed in contracts. That final investment from Ballmer was made just weeks before a government investigation into the company began and three days after Forbes ran a story on the “floundering” company’s situation. 

The timeline creates some additional questions about Ballmer’s assertion that he was simply defrauded like everyone else. Torre also revealed that Ballmer’s last investment for stock in the company, which disclosed in contracts that it was in default, was for $23 per share — more than double the $11 share price he’d initially bought in for back in September 2021. 

Ballmer and Clippers’ limited partner Dennis Wong, who allegedly invested $2 million in Aspiration just before a late payment was made to Leonard, were the only additional investors in Aspiration’s last round of fundraising. Torre found that 19 investment firms turned them down in what founder Joe Sandberg called in a deposition, unveiled by Torre, a “vigorous” attempt to raise funds in late 2022 and early 2023. 

The question that remains for the NBA is what, exactly, all of this means in terms of proving the Clippers circumvented the cap. We know what Clippers’ case will be for explaining the massive carbon credits purchase from the statement they provided, but the continued investment in Aspiration when no one else would from an otherwise incredibly savvy businessman raises plenty of eyebrows. It’s certainly possible Ballmer made a bad investment, but the question now is why he went back for more when others wouldn’t. 

The league will have to determine whether this enough proof, or if it’s too circumstantial to prompt a significant punishment. The problem is that as more becomes unveiled about the situation, public opinion is being shaped — not just for fans, but other owners and people who work for teams around the league.