Amid Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard's investigation into his “no-show” endorsement deal, one source has come forward regarding what owner Steve Ballmer was told about the reported deal. Ballmer reportedly invested at least $60 million in the company Aspiration from September 2021 to March 2023. However, he adamantly insisted that he did not know the now-bankrupt Aspiration's endorsement deal with Leonard.
From the perspective of rival GMs, the Clippers' Leonard signing was deemed a no-brainer, considering the franchise's long track record of disappointing seasons. However, now those same executives wonder if Ballmer did, in fact, circumvent salary as a means to acquire Leonard over potential suitors, as one rival GM told ESPN's Baxter Holmes.
“Looking back, the deal was a f—ing disaster,” one rival GM told ESPN.
One former Clippers staffer spoke out about the NBA's investigation into Ballmer and Leonard's endorsement deal with Aspiration.
“This last investigation is different,” a former Clippers staffer said. “This one directly calls into question Steve Ballmer's character.
“At some point, Steve has got to get out of the Kawhi business.”
Mark Cuban on Aspiration deal, Clippers' Steve Ballmer
Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban says Kawhi Leonard's Uncle Dennis' reported involvement in the Aspiration endorsement deal could doom Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. Cuban believes Ballmer could have turned a blind eye to what was happening.
Cuban explained his take on Pablo Finds Out with Pablo Torre.
“If you told me if you hadn't told me Uncle Dennis was the one to make the call, I would have been more likely to believe that Steve was at fault,” Cuban said. “Because if Steve knew and the minute he found out that this s*** was falling apart and these guys were a scam, he'd say, “Let me invest some more money so you can pay off Kawhi so this whole thing goes away and there's no evidence of it any longer and let's just erase all this from the books.” You don't leave this outstanding debt out there.
“And particularly once you see that they're on a path to going broke and you know potentially you understand enough and I think we've all had enough experiences with bankruptcies that those creditors are going to become public and because that's where you got the story right and so that's you know the whole due diligence smart enough to know right applies to that as well.”
From one businessman to another, Cuban believes Ballmer could have signaled the truth to Leonard had he known about the endorsement deal.
