RealGM

During Kawhi Leonard's 2019 free agency, his uncle Dennis Robertson made demands to the Toronto Raptors that line up almost perfectly with the terms of the star player's endorsement deal with Aspiration, sources tell Bruce Arthur of The Toronto Star. Robertson reportedly requested that the Raptors trade for Paul George plus give them an ownership stake in the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Robertson also asked the Raptors for ownership stakes in outside companies associated with MLSE. The Raptors were also told they needed to match at least $10 million per year in additional sonship income. NBA teams are allowed to introduce players to team sponsors, but collective bargaining agreement rules prohibit them to negotiate those deals.

It was also communicated that Leonard didn't "want to do anything" as part of the endorsement deal.

MLSE realized that Leonard's camp wasn't asking for traditional sponsorship introductions, but no-show jobs instead. MLSE rejected those proposals. 

Leonard's $7 million per year deal with Aspiration began in April 2022, which was a few months after he signed a contract extension with the Clippers. Both Steve Ballmer and the Clippers have denied any involvement in the deal beyond the initial introduction. 

Via Bruce Arthur/Toronto Star

I didn't realize Dennis Rodman became and agent...but he's still gangster as all hell

Man these people are DUMB. All they had to do is some super minimal work like have Kawhi come into the studio and record a couple radio spots that never air, it's like a couple hours a year for $7M, even by NBA superstar standards that seems like a pretty good deal. Kawhi could even do it from home, I'm sure. Then you have something you can hold up as "work done" and at that point you're into a murky conversation about what "fair market value" is where the numbers get really fuzzy when talking about celebrity endorsements, and there wouldn't be a definitive skirting of the cap rules even if that's what's actually happening. Gaming this system is so damn easy and they couldn't even do that right.

HiRez wrote:Man these people are DUMB. All they had to do is some super minimal work like have Kawhi come into the studio and record a couple radio spots that never air, it's like a couple hours a year for $7M, even by NBA superstar standards that seems like a pretty good deal. Kawhi could even do it from home, I'm sure. Then you have something you can hold up as "work done" and at that point you're into a murky conversation about what "fair market value" is where the numbers get really fuzzy when talking about celebrity endorsements, and there wouldn't be a definitive skirting of the cap rules even if that's what's actually happening. Gaming this system is so damn easy and they couldn't even do that right.

Because those simple videos did not occur for 28,000,000.00 in cash and 20,000,000.00 in stock totaling 48,000,000.00 from which Balmer paid 50,000,000.00

Because he asked for it from his former team

And it was a company to plant trees

It’s obvious it is cheating

LakersLegacy wrote:

HiRez wrote:Man these people are DUMB. All they had to do is some super minimal work like have Kawhi come into the studio and record a couple radio spots that never air, it's like a couple hours a year for $7M, even by NBA superstar standards that seems like a pretty good deal. Kawhi could even do it from home, I'm sure. Then you have something you can hold up as "work done" and at that point you're into a murky conversation about what "fair market value" is where the numbers get really fuzzy when talking about celebrity endorsements, and there wouldn't be a definitive skirting of the cap rules even if that's what's actually happening. Gaming this system is so damn easy and they couldn't even do that right.

Because those simple videos did not occur for 28,000,000.00 in cash and 20,000,000.00 in stock totaling 48,000,000.00 from which Balmer paid 50,000,000.00

Because he asked for it from his former team

And it was a company to plant trees

It’s obvious it is cheating

He's not contradicting any of that, bruh... He's just pointing out what a greedy, lazy, and dumb mf-er Kawhi is (his entourage as well, and Ballmer as well). To which I 100% agree.