Recently, the biggest storyline for the Los Angeles Clippers has been the ongoing investigation by the NBA into their alleged attempt to circumvent the NBA salary cap by signing Kawhi Leonard to a no-show deal with the company Aspiration. The Clippers have instead insisted that team owner Steve Ballmer was defrauded by Aspiration, now bankrupt, and has done nothing wrong.
However, on Monday, reporter Pablo Torre, who initially broke reports of the Clippers' potential wrongdoing, provided evidence that Ballmer and Aspiration cofounder Joe Sanberg were on good terms long after the alleged defrauding took place.
“NEW: Steve Ballmer quietly donated $1.875M to charity of Aspiration co-founder who “conned” him — 1.5+ years after Clippers ended deal, as feds closed in,” reported Torre on X, formerly Twitter.
“It does not make any iota of sense to be both hoodwinked and bamboozled yet continuously giving money,” said one insider.
Torre's insinuation is that the fact that Ballmer continued having business dealings with Sanberg long after the supposed fraud proves that there actually was no fraud and the Clippers' relationship with Aspiration had something more tied to it, like, for instance, the Leonard situation.
Turbulent times for the Clippers
Making matters even more intense for Los Angeles is the fact that Torre unearthed these latest revalations on the team's media day, something that the players and coaches will almost assuredly be asked about by the LA press members.
The last team that was caught trying to circumvent the NBA salary cap in this sort of situation was the Minnesota Timberwolves in the late 1990s regarding player Joe Smith. In that instance, the Timberwolves were dealt heavy fines, multiple suspensions, and forfeited first round draft picks, and that may not have been anywhere near the scale of what the Clippers are alleged to have been involved in.
Making matters even more humiliating is the fact that the Clippers won absolutely nothing despite their alleged attempts to get an illegal leg up on the competition. Whatever ends up coming of the situation, there are sure to be some awkward moments at the team's media day on Monday.
