Kawhi "no-show job" that paid $28M

[C Court]

If the allegations are true, then Kawhi is going to pay a big price - as well as Ballmer.

It’s not beyond the realm of possibilities for Kawhi to be suspended for a year without pay. I can see a penalty in that range.

Additionally, scumbag Uncle Dennis will be banned for life from having anything to do with the NBA.

[bstein14]

If the allegations are true, then Kawhi is going to pay a big price - as well as Ballmer.

It’s not beyond the realm of possibilities for Kawhi to be suspended for a year without pay. I can see a penalty in that range.

Additionally, scumbag Uncle Dennis will be banned for life from having anything to do with the NBA.

On Leonard's side, if he was asking for "guaranteed $XX million of sponsorship dollars" I am not sure that is ban worthy. The way the Clippers did it was against the rules, but asking for a certain amount of money of sponsorship deals may be a common thing. Even the Raptors reportedly brought in $15 million worth of sponsorhip deals to the table for as that was what he asked for.... likely all legit since the Raptors just won the championship probably none were actually cicumventing. But that said, some might have been corporate sponsors that in theory the Raptors could have cut better deals to moving forward since they would have been shelling out more money to Kawhi.

[WuTang_CMB]

sam amick

Plenty ‘unusual’ about Kawhi Leonard sponsorship deal: ‘This does not happen’

Right about the time the initial reaction to the Kawhi Leonard story was finally dying down on Wednesday, with Pablo Torre’s podcast making a case that the richest owner in all of professional sports — the LA Clippers’ Steve Ballmer — might have circumvented the salary cap and the NBA announcing its investigation as a result, the team that was already in the worst kind of spotlight decided to hop into the headlines yet again.
They sent a second statement.
Following on the 82-word, initial response from the day before, in which the Clippers denied any wrongdoing in Torre’s report while claiming that “any contrary assertion is provably false,” they upped the ante with a 199-word denial that included this line in the third paragraph:
“There is nothing unusual or untoward about team sponsors doing endorsement deals with players on the same team.”
On its face, that is true. But what the Clippers chose not to acknowledge was the suspicious nature of Leonard’s reported contract with the now-defunct former team sponsor, Aspiration, the one that was set to pay him a whopping $28 million over a four-year period in exchange for what appears to be nothing in return and dwarfed deals given to higher-profile celebs like Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey Jr. and Drake who actually provided endorsements. And keep in mind, this statement was released before a Boston Sports Journal report emerged on Thursday alleging that Leonard actually had two deals with Aspiration that could have totaled $48 million combined.

There was no mention in the Clippers’ statement of Ballmer’s involvement in said company, either, the reported $50 million investment from his personal LLC that was deposited approximately three months before Leonard’s deal was done (in April 2022) and two years after a league investigation into Leonard’s free agency should have inspired maximum discretion. No reference to the seven former Aspiration employees who chose to anonymously assist in Torre’s reporting, one of whom shared stories of how the payment of Leonard’s lucrative contract was always deemed a top priority for the finance department — even as the company was careening into bankruptcy — because his infamous and influential uncle, Dennis Robertson, would call to collect.

Amid this latest round of serious accusations lobbed against Ballmer, and with so much at stake in this sensitive situation, the convenient omission of such key facts only worsens the already-poor optics. Especially considering so many of their competitors believe there’s real reason for the Clippers, and Leonard, to be concerned here.

When it comes to the worthiness of the investigation, and the league-wide reaction to the details that have emerged to this point, rival executives who spoke to The Athletic on the condition of anonymity made one thing abundantly clear: No, this is not the norm. The executives were granted anonymity so as to allow them to speak more freely.

For starters, as one pointed out, the combination of Ballmer’s significant investment in a team sponsor and Leonard’s curious contract (or contracts, perhaps) were reason enough to put them in harm’s way with the league. Several noted the size of Leonard’s deal as a red flag all its own — even before the BSJ report, and independent of the fact that he didn’t provide any services in return.
Others wondered aloud if this explained why Leonard, who has historically pushed for every penny in his personal negotiations, would later agree to two extensions that were below maximum-salary level and afforded the Clippers additional roster flexibility. There was far more shock and dismay than there was apathy or empathy.


“This (sort of endorsement deal) does not happen,” one long-tenured general manager said of the nature of this arrangement.
“I’ve never seen it,” said another executive.



Former Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban was among the few who took the opposite stance, defending Ballmer on social media and pointing the finger at the Aspiration co-founder, Joe Sanberg, who agreed to plead guilty last month to defrauding investors of $248 million.
“Scammers do scammy things,” wrote Cuban, who even joined Torre on a follow-up podcast Wednesday night to discuss the matter.
All of these questions coming the Clippers’ way are fair, just as they were six years ago when Robertson’s outlandish requests for illegal perks in free agency — houses, private planes, part ownership of the team, a guaranteed amount of off-court endorsement money, etc. — compelled rival owners to share their concerns with the league.


Many of the same themes that raised suspicions back then remain. And while the NBA didn’t find evidence of the Clippers granting improper benefits, it’s worth remembering that the message sent from the league office should still be seen as a North Star of sorts.


Per my Dec. 23, 2019 report …
(Silver) sees salary cap circumvention as a cardinal sin in the NBA, and will always keep a watchful eye on that front. If any relevant evidence of improper benefits surfaces in the future, the league will re-open the investigation and pursue the charges yet again.




And … here we are.



As Torre and I discussed on the Athletic NBA Daily podcast, we won’t know for quite some time if these accusations stick. There are still many questions left to be answered that will determine whether commissioner Adam Silver drops the hammer, most notably relating to Ballmer’s level of influence within Aspiration or, potentially, in his possible procurement of Leonard’s deal. The Clippers are the ones who claimed at the outset that they could prove these allegations false, and will have every opportunity to do just that.
For Silver, it’s time to pull the curtain all the way back here and finally separate the facts from fiction. You can’t have a luxury tax system like the NBA’s that is essentially a hard cap — a structure designed, in part, to level the playing field with less-wealthy owners — only to look the other way when there’s evidence that one of the richest people on the planet might be finding ways around it. And considering Ballmer already has history here even before the summer of 2019, there should be even more incentive to do a thorough and definitive investigation.



Lest anyone forgets, Ballmer was fined $250,000 by the league in the summer of 2015 for offering DeAndre Jordan a third-party endorsement deal from Lexus as part of the team’s free agency pitch (Jordan reportedly would have earned an additional $200,000 annually). Ballmer addressed that fine with team employees at the time, when his internal memo sent the kind of message that might hold true today.
“We believed we were doing this the right way, and any circumvention was inadvertent,” Ballmer wrote back then. “In our effort to support our players in every way possible, we as an organization must be diligent in complying with the CBA.”


Truer words had never been spoken. Now, we wait to find out if he heeded his own advice.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6597250/2025/09/04/kawhi-leonard-clippers-steve-ballmer-sponsorship-deal-aspiration/

[C Court]

If the allegations are true, then Kawhi is going to pay a big price - as well as Ballmer.

It’s not beyond the realm of possibilities for Kawhi to be suspended for a year without pay. I can see a penalty in that range.

Additionally, scumbag Uncle Dennis will be banned for life from having anything to do with the NBA.

On Leonard's side, if he was asking for "guaranteed $XX million of sponsorship dollars" I am not sure that is ban worthy. The way the Clippers did it was against the rules, but asking for a certain amount of money of sponsorship deals may be a common thing. Even the Raptors reportedly brought in $15 million worth of sponsorhip deals to the table for as that was what he asked for.... likely all legit since the Raptors just won the championship probably none were actually cicumventing. But that said, some might have been corporate sponsors that in theory the Raptors could have cut better deals to moving forward since they would have been shelling out more money to Kawhi.

Asking for guaranteed sponsorship dollars is clearly in violation of the cap. It is not a common thing, because its illegal. Kawhi willingly accepted a "secret" no-show sponsorship deal for $28 million from a company that Ballmer gave $50 million - a deal which is absolutely against NBA rules.

To be clear, this was a request that Kawhi made (either directly or through Uncle Dennis). He asked for it. If Kawhi wasn't asking for sweeteners and was going to abide by the NBA cap rules (like 99% of players), then neither Ballmer or Larry would have gone down the endorsement path.

Kawhi bears a lot of responsibility for what transpired. He should be punished as well as Ballmer.

[TheRealDeal]

I’ve seen a lot of people saying Raptors fans should be angry about this news, but honestly, I think most of us always knew there was some shady business going on. If anything, we’re just glad the evidence is finally coming to light

[bstein14]

If the allegations are true, then Kawhi is going to pay a big price - as well as Ballmer.

It’s not beyond the realm of possibilities for Kawhi to be suspended for a year without pay. I can see a penalty in that range.

Additionally, scumbag Uncle Dennis will be banned for life from having anything to do with the NBA.

On Leonard's side, if he was asking for "guaranteed $XX million of sponsorship dollars" I am not sure that is ban worthy. The way the Clippers did it was against the rules, but asking for a certain amount of money of sponsorship deals may be a common thing. Even the Raptors reportedly brought in $15 million worth of sponsorhip deals to the table for as that was what he asked for.... likely all legit since the Raptors just won the championship probably none were actually cicumventing. But that said, some might have been corporate sponsors that in theory the Raptors could have cut better deals to moving forward since they would have been shelling out more money to Kawhi.

Asking for guaranteed sponsorship dollars is clearly in violation of the cap. It is not a common thing, because its illegal. Kawhi willingly accepted a "secret" no-show sponsorship deal for $28 million from a company that Ballmer gave $50 million - a deal which is absolutely against NBA rules.

To be clear, this was a request that Kawhi made (either directly or through Uncle Dennis). He asked for it. If Kawhi wasn't asking for sweeteners and was going to abide by the NBA cap rules (like 99% of players), then neither Ballmer or Larry would have gone down the endorsement path.

Kawhi bears a lot of responsibility for what transpired. He should be punished as well as Ballmer.

Reportedly the Raptors met his demand of $15 million of sponsorship money from 3 sponsors....

"From what I know from sources, when Kawhi signed with the Clippers, the Toronto owner Larry Tanenbaum was beside himself because he believed he bent over backwards for Kawhi — including calling three sponsors to meet Kawhi's demand of an extra $15 million in endorsement money."

[One_and_Done]

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[Zeno]

On Leonard's side, if he was asking for "guaranteed $XX million of sponsorship dollars" I am not sure that is ban worthy. The way the Clippers did it was against the rules, but asking for a certain amount of money of sponsorship deals may be a common thing. Even the Raptors reportedly brought in $15 million worth of sponsorhip deals to the table for as that was what he asked for.... likely all legit since the Raptors just won the championship probably none were actually cicumventing. But that said, some might have been corporate sponsors that in theory the Raptors could have cut better deals to moving forward since they would have been shelling out more money to Kawhi.

Asking for guaranteed sponsorship dollars is clearly in violation of the cap. It is not a common thing, because its illegal. Kawhi willingly accepted a "secret" no-show sponsorship deal for $28 million from a company that Ballmer gave $50 million - a deal which is absolutely against NBA rules.

To be clear, this was a request that Kawhi made (either directly or through Uncle Dennis). He asked for it. If Kawhi wasn't asking for sweeteners and was going to abide by the NBA cap rules (like 99% of players), then neither Ballmer or Larry would have gone down the endorsement path.

Kawhi bears a lot of responsibility for what transpired. He should be punished as well as Ballmer.

Reportedly the Raptors met his demand of $15 million of sponsorship money from 3 sponsors....

"From what I know from sources, when Kawhi signed with the Clippers, the Toronto owner Larry Tanenbaum was beside himself because he believed he bent over backwards for Kawhi — including calling three sponsors to meet Kawhi's demand of an extra $15 million in endorsement money."

I think there is a vast difference between introducing a player to potential sponsorship opportunities and providing the actual money to a sponsor so that it can be funnelled through to the player for doing absolutely nothing beyond staying with your team.

[C Court]

Asking for guaranteed sponsorship dollars is clearly in violation of the cap. It is not a common thing, because its illegal. Kawhi willingly accepted a "secret" no-show sponsorship deal for $28 million from a company that Ballmer gave $50 million - a deal which is absolutely against NBA rules.

To be clear, this was a request that Kawhi made (either directly or through Uncle Dennis). He asked for it. If Kawhi wasn't asking for sweeteners and was going to abide by the NBA cap rules (like 99% of players), then neither Ballmer or Larry would have gone down the endorsement path.

Kawhi bears a lot of responsibility for what transpired. He should be punished as well as Ballmer.

Reportedly the Raptors met his demand of $15 million of sponsorship money from 3 sponsors....

"From what I know from sources, when Kawhi signed with the Clippers, the Toronto owner Larry Tanenbaum was beside himself because he believed he bent over backwards for Kawhi — including calling three sponsors to meet Kawhi's demand of an extra $15 million in endorsement money."

I think there is a vast difference between introducing a player to potential sponsorship opportunities and providing the actual money to a sponsor so that it can be funnelled through to the player for doing absolutely nothing beyond staying with your team.

You are absolutely correct.

Legitimate endorsement deals are:
(1) publicly known
(2) athlete does commercials/ads and makes public appearances to earn the money
(3) the endorsement money is paid by the sponsoring company (Ford, Nike, Audi, etc) and not by the NBA team/owner.

Here is how Kawhi's deal is different from a legit endorsement:
(1) deal was 100% secret
(2) Kawhi provided ZERO services to earn the money
(3) Ballmer (the team owner) gave me the company $50 million of his own money, which then covered Kawhi's $28 million fee

Seven employees of Aspiration came forward and said the deal was purely designed to circumvent the salary cap. Period.

[The Duke]

Silver will try to bury this.
He is not Stern, and doesn’t rule with an iron fist

In an alternative universe Kawhi stays with the Raptors win back to back chips (Denys Bron an LA chip), and goes on to surpass LeBron’s legacy, and is known as #3 GOAT (MJ, KB, KL) in modern ish era

[deeps6x]

Balmer's image is definitely taking a hit after this. It may not be slum lord bad, but it sure doesn't look good.

Now that the story is out, he should probably be hoping for a $4.x million dollar fine, so he can start working to repair his image immediately. Maybe start by donating $50M to a legit charity.

[Veepy]

If this wasn’t public and there wasn’t a federal investigation, I could see Silver trying to sweep it under the rug. But now it’s out in the open, looks damning and from the Zach Lowe podcast, it sounds like other teams are calling for a harsh punishment.

Silver’s backed into a corner as the league's reputation is on the line. If the nba finds them guilty, I'd be shocked if Kawhi/Balmer don't get suspended for a year, Kawhi's contract voided, Clippers lose 4+ draft picks and the league claws back the $28m from the fake endorsement deal. Silver was the one yapping about how cap circumvention is a cardinal sin. If the nba goes soft, it proves its sports entertainment like the wwe rather than a legit competitive league.

[sule]

If the allegations are true, then Kawhi is going to pay a big price - as well as Ballmer.

It’s not beyond the realm of possibilities for Kawhi to be suspended for a year without pay. I can see a penalty in that range.

Additionally, scumbag Uncle Dennis will be banned for life from having anything to do with the NBA.

On Leonard's side, if he was asking for "guaranteed $XX million of sponsorship dollars" I am not sure that is ban worthy. The way the Clippers did it was against the rules, but asking for a certain amount of money of sponsorship deals may be a common thing. Even the Raptors reportedly brought in $15 million worth of sponsorhip deals to the table for as that was what he asked for.... likely all legit since the Raptors just won the championship probably none were actually cicumventing. But that said, some might have been corporate sponsors that in theory the Raptors could have cut better deals to moving forward since they would have been shelling out more money to Kawhi.

Let's say the Raptors doubled the amount to $30 million in endorsement deals for Kawhi. Kawhi still takes the Clippers $28 million over the Raptors $30 million. Simply b/c the Clippers deal didn't stipulate he actually do anything.

He would've been busy doing photoshoots and showing up to events if he was taking endorsement deals anywhere else.

And since this endorsement deal didn't stipulate. he do any actual endorsing, it stands to reason it's not an endorsement deal at all. Just a deal.

[MoneyBall]

Balmer's image is definitely taking a hit after this. It may not be slum lord bad, but it sure doesn't look good.

Now that the story is out, he should probably be hoping for a $4.x million dollar fine, so he can start working to repair his image immediately. Maybe start by donating $50M to a legit charity.

4 million dollar fine? Am I reading this right?

[WuTang_CMB]

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And the grand finale

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[WuTang_CMB]

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[tanuki1031]

The fact that this isn't Ballmer's first cap circumvention should put his continued ownership of an NBA franchise into question.

You can't oops I did it again this one, especially not when it's no longer $200k but $50M.

[Brinbe]

Watch on YouTube

[C Court]

Mark Cuban supports Ballmer in this. Pablo Torre interviewed Cuban and is releasing the conversation on Friday.

[bstein14]

Its actually crazy to know that the deal was for $20 million of stock plus $28 million cash and Ballmer paid $50 million. That really couldn't line up any more closely... $2 million for Apsiration for making the "endorsement deal" happen.