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

[Godaddycurse]

i bet uncle dennis is looking for another under the table deal to cover for the lost income from a probable suspension for kawhi this year

[40 Guzzle]

if the clippers get away with this I will never look at the NBA the same again and Silver has to know the majority of fans feel the same way

as for the endorsement deal, I remember back to a podcast where Amiln El-Hassan noted that on all-star weekend & on dozens of scheduled events per year an endorsement deal requires players show up to sponsor events, shake hands, kiss babies, etc. which is why all-star weekend was extended, to fit all that stuff in.

He specifically mentioned dudes like Kawhi just arent built for that. Kawhi aint doin media wall photos & red carpets. He wants to go home and fire up Netflix.

I guess he found an endorsement deal that fits his work-home balance

[WuTang_CMB]

Read on Twitter

[Wise80]

Read on Twitter

Was it a team friendly deal? Wasn't it a max?

[WuTang_CMB]

:nod:

Read on Twitter

Was it a team friendly deal? Wasn't it a max?

signed just less in 2024. 21' and 19' were max

In January of 2024, Leonard signed an extension with the Clippers that raised eyebrows around the league because it was not a maximum-salary deal. The team-friendly choice, which paid him a combined $153 million over three years, allowed the Clippers to have more flexibility with their roster.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10080245-kawhi-leonard-clippers-agree-to-reported-3-year-1524m-contract-extension

[brownbobcat]

What?

In every sponsorship deal, there’s *something* given by both parties.g

It might be a commercial, a post, or at least a press release so the sponsor can gain some clout from using the player’s name.

This was a donation.

Nike or any company could sign someone & sit on their investment. Yes I also understand that you would want a return in your investment and use it to your advantage to ensure a return but still...

There is no comparison to Nike. Nike might sit on someone while waiting for another player's endorsement deal to expire. Or wait for a shoe to be ready to market. If Nike sat on someone there would be a logical reason. There is no logical reason for this company to sit on their highest paid endorsement celebrity.

And when's the last time Nike signed a secret endorsement no-show deal?

[brownbobcat]

Kawhi may very well play the angle that it was uncle Dennis his handler that swung a deal he had no knowledge off. This happens all the time. Players get told by their trusted guardians friends, family, etc to focus on basketball and they'll handle their financials to look after their best interests.

Yeah, and my dog ate my homework.

And my trainer put those PEDs in the protein shake.

And my masseuse used my Draftkings login to bet those under props on my games.

[XTC]

if the clippers get away with this I will never look at the NBA the same again and Silver has to know the majority of fans feel the same way

as for the endorsement deal, I remember back to a podcast where Amiln El-Hassan noted that on all-star weekend & on dozens of scheduled events per year an endorsement deal requires players show up to sponsor events, shake hands, kiss babies, etc. which is why all-star weekend was extended, to fit all that stuff in.

He specifically mentioned dudes like Kawhi just arent built for that. Kawhi aint doin media wall photos & red carpets. He wants to go home and fire up Netflix.

I guess he found an endorsement deal that fits his work-home balance

For me if they Clippers get away with this with a slap on the wrist, I will definetly go from a hardcore fan to a casual, tuning in when the Raps are 'good'.

We got robbed at a chance to repeat (thankful for 2019 & the journey leading to it), but I cant support a product that supports cheating & the odds being stacked against us. This investigation may take awhile, but it will definetly influence how big of a fan I am going forward.

[inonba]

Nike or any company could sign someone & sit on their investment. Yes I also understand that you would want a return in your investment and use it to your advantage to ensure a return but still...

There is no comparison to Nike. Nike might sit on someone while waiting for another player's endorsement deal to expire. Or wait for a shoe to be ready to market. If Nike sat on someone there would be a logical reason. There is no logical reason for this company to sit on their highest paid endorsement celebrity.

And when's the last time Nike signed a secret endorsement no-show deal?

Oh, it gets better. According to John Karalis of the Boston Sports Journal, a source told him that Kawhi Leonard's $20 million stock option was intended to be paid out from Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg's personal holdings in the company over four years.

I'm sure this happens all the time as well. Athletes being paid insane amount of money, not only for no work done, but not even an announcement. It's like they're trying to rewrite the textbook on marketing 101. First thing you should do, not let anyone know.

I'm also sure athletes get stock options directly from the co-founder instead of the company issuing shares all the time. You shouldn't have problems naming examples.

To top it off, do you know how Ballmer responds to the allegations ? I don't know, they were fraudsters.

Mark Cuban? No way Ballmer can be guilty, because he ain't that stupid.

Any else find it rich that one owner's defense is I was stupid, and another owner defending him claims he can't be guilty because nobody is that stupid?

[causal_fan]

Steve Balmer and the Clippers are important stakeholders in the NBA, so I'm expecting it will be a "tap on the wrist" punishment if any - a few millions fine - If it were an unimportant franchise, then a harsher penalty would be applied like what Minnesota received in the Joe Smith case.

[onions17]

:nod:

Read on Twitter

Was it a team friendly deal? Wasn't it a max?

That sounds like a big "if". I highly doubt that is something anyone would be able to prove, although it appears to be obviously true.

[WuTang_CMB]

Read on Twitter

[Kingsway_fan]

Nothing short of forfeiture of 5 first round picks plus massive fines --- spineless Silver will do what?

[NBA Sheady]

Aspire posted on IG using Kawhi's image to promote their brand. I wonder if any parties involved will try to use that as a defense. Essentially try to claim that the single post was worth 48M.

[TheGeneral99]

I guess over 300 million in career earnings and big endorsements from New Balance weren't enough for Uncle Dennis and the Klaw.

[tecumseh18]

Totally apropos of nothing, but I know we're slightly into the tax so far this season. Of course, we were under the tax last season.

Could Raptors pay a soon-to-be-available UFA the full non-taxpayer MLE for this season? It would put us way over the tax line, but Bobby/MLSE may consider it to be worth it.

[Jerry Lucas]

Totally apropos of nothing, but I know we're slightly into the tax so far this season. Of course, we were under the tax last season.

Could Raptors pay a soon-to-be-available UFA the full non-taxpayer MLE for this season? It would put us way over the tax line, but Bobby/MLSE may consider it to be worth it.

The Raptors would have to clear money from the books in order to hypothetically offer Kawhi the full non-tax MLE. You have to be under the 1st apron for the non-tax MLE to be available, and the Raptors are over the 1st apron right now, and even if they cut AJ Lawson today they would only have around 800k in 1st apron space.

They would either be offering Kawhi the full Taxpayer MLE (around 5.7M) without clearing money, or they would clear money in order to be able to offer him the full non-tax MLE.

[inonba]

Aspire posted on IG using Kawhi's image to promote their brand. I wonder if any parties involved will try to use that as a defense. Essentially try to claim that the single post was worth 48M.

I'll answer your question with an analogy : The Cleveland Cavaliers can hire LeBron entire entourage and pay them a babysitter's wage, but can't hire his wife and pay her 100 million dollars.

The difference is, the CBA recognizes paying the players and close associates above market value as a form of cap circumvention.

Even if Kawhi did some work, it could give him some deniability, but likely, the contract terms and compensation amount would be enough to conclude cap evasion. The amount of money is just too outrageously large to be considered fair market value, especially for a company having to cook the books to survive.

[OakleyDokely]

A team ownsr makes a 50 mill "investment" in a company.

That company pays the teams player 50 mill to do nothing or send out a few random tweets.

That's the blueprint to circumvent the cap if the league doesn't come down hard on the Clippers. The cap is basically meaningless at that point.

[bstein14]

I guess over 300 million in career earnings and big endorsements from New Balance weren't enough for Uncle Dennis and the Klaw.

What's crazy is that he got more from Aspire per year doing nothing than he did from New Balance, reportedly who was paying him on a deal "worth over $5 million per year" .... Jordan Brand offered him $22 million over 4 years and he reportedly took a slightly better offer from New Balance to be their main basketball guy.

Getting more from a no show endorsement then you get from your main shoe deal you shoot a bunch of commercials for is pretty telling.