{"id":276070,"date":"2025-11-10T19:48:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T19:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/276070\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T19:48:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T19:48:00","slug":"how-does-kawhi-aspiration-deal-compare-to-others-in-the-nba-we-asked-50-sponsors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/276070\/","title":{"rendered":"How does Kawhi-Aspiration deal compare to others in the NBA? We asked 50 sponsors"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a TV commercial that first aired in March during a local broadcast of a Boston Celtics game, Jayson Tatum, the star face of the franchise, is shown seated on a podium, behind a microphone cloaked in an Amica Mutual Insurance decal. A fictitious reporter asks him, \u201cWhat keeps you going?\u201d and Tatum, with the Amica logo in plain view on screen, gives a sly look to his right before he responds<\/a>, \u201cKnowing who I do it for.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ad closes with a shot of three pairs of sneakers in his home,\u00a0 belonging to him and his two sons, followed by the slogan: \u201cWe know why you do it. So we work harder to protect it.\u201d Tatum shoots at a mini hoop in his living room as the Amica moniker appears on the screen one last time.<\/p>\n

Tatum\u2019s commercial for Amica, a Celtics corporate sponsor, is fairly common around the NBA: The team\u2019s star publicly hawking a product or service for the team\u2019s sponsor. But the fact that there is no such ad for the LA Clippers\u2019 Kawhi Leonard and former team sponsor Aspiration \u2014 despite the star\u2019s $28 million endorsement contract<\/a> with the company \u2014 has led to an NBA investigation for potential salary-cap violations.<\/p>\n

A part of the Clippers\u2019 defense since revelations surfaced that Aspiration, a Los Angeles-based environmental firm, gave Leonard such a lucrative endorsement contract<\/a> for apparently no work in return, is that such deals are \u201cnot unusual\u201d in the NBA.<\/p>\n

The Athletic examined relationships between players on the NBA\u2019s 29 other teams and those teams\u2019 corporate sponsors to find out if that is true. There are cases in which a player has a separate endorsement deal with a business that is also paying millions to sponsor the star\u2019s team\u00a0 \u2014 with one or two substantial asterisks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue here isn\u2019t the cost,\u201d said one player agent in the NBA, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive, private contracts. \u201cIf you heard, hypothetically, that a Michael Jordan or a Kobe Bryant had a deal to endorse (a team sponsor), whatever it cost, would you bat an eye? The issue is services rendered, and is the team an investor in the companies giving the players contracts?\u201d<\/p>\n

Aspiration not only agreed to sponsor the Clippers\u2019 jerseys and arena for $300 million, but had also received a $50 million investment from team owner Steve Ballmer in September 2021 before entering into the contract with Leonard in 2022. By the end of that year, Aspiration was in deep financial trouble, had already missed a payment to Leonard and was not paying many of its vendors, according to reporting by the \u201cPablo Torre Finds out\u201d podcast.<\/a><\/p>\n

In December 2022, according to company documents reviewed by Torre\u2019s\u00a0podcast, Clippers minority owner Dennis Wong then invested $2 million in Aspiration \u2014 only for Leonard to be paid $1.75 million nine days after Wong\u2019s funding. After Wong\u2019s investment at the end of 2022, Ballmer invested another $10 million<\/a> in Aspiration in 2023. Aspiration was in default at the time of Wong\u2019s investment, according to company records shared with the \u201cPablo Torre Finds Out\u201d podcast, and filed for bankruptcy in March of 2025. Leonard listed himself as a creditor for $7 million, which means he was claiming a debt owed to him for the final year of his contract with the company, Torre reported.<\/p>\n

In the weeks since Torre\u2019s podcast first unveiled the relationships between the Clippers, Ballmer, Leonard and Aspiration, no one has produced evidence of Leonard doing anything for the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s too much fire here, it\u2019s not just smoke,\u201d said a second NBA player agent who was also granted anonymity to discuss sensitive, private contracts. \u201cSeven million (annually) for a no-show deal is ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAn outlandish number,\u201d said another player agent. \u201cTypically those deals are for somewhere between $500,000 and $1 million, depending on the size of the company, the market, etc.. And you can almost always see their work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Athletic asked more than 50 companies with current or former jersey sponsorships with NBA teams to disclose any endorsement deals they cut with players. The Athletic also requested basic contract details and explanations for why those arrangements are (or were) beneficial to those companies. Of the 20 jersey sponsors that responded to The Athletic\u2019s inquiry, only five said they had ever entered into separate endorsement deals with players on the team.<\/p>\n

In addition to Tatum, Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors and Japanese technology conglomerate Rakuten have had a separate partnership for years that includes not only commercials but cooperation on documentaries, programs supporting Black fashion designers and community work through a foundation established by Curry and his wife, Ayesha. Also, Dallas Mavericks\u2019 rookie Cooper Flagg and the financial technology company Chime entered into a contract days before Flagg was taken No. 1 overall by the Mavericks in the 2025 draft. Flagg\u2019s campaign for Chime began with an appearance by Flagg and his mother on Chime\u2019s YouTube Series, \u201cMama, I made it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Motorola \u2014 a jersey sponsor for both the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls \u2014 said it had a separate endorsement and philanthropic deal<\/a> with Jrue Holiday when he played for the Bucks, which included a TV commercial.<\/p>\n

NewAge Products, a hardware store and the jersey sponsor for the New Orleans Pelicans, said it was working on projects with at least two players that have not been announced. A spokesman for NewAge also said the company gifted retired NBA superstar Shaquille O\u2019Neal a full set of garage cabinetry in 2023, long after he stopped playing. Shaq recorded a thank you to NewAge and posted it to social media.<\/a><\/p>\n

A sixth jersey sponsor, Goodyear Tires, which sponsored the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2017 through 2022, said it had \u201ca small deal with (a player or multiple players) that never really materialized due to Covid(-19) shutdowns,\u201d and otherwise had no separate deals with Cavs players, a company spokesman said in an email to The Athletic.<\/p>\n

Additionally, The Athletic identified partnerships between Giannis Antetokounmpo and Johnsonville Sausage Company, which is also a corporate sponsor of the Bucks. The arrangement includes Giannis endorsing Johnsonville and the creation of a \u201cGreek Brat\u201d in Giannis\u2019 honor.<\/a> Damian Lillard and Toyota, a major corporate sponsor of the Portland Trail Blazers, also have a partnership that includes a Toyota dealership in Lillard\u2019s name in Oregon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Based on background conversations with player agents, NBA marketing representatives, team owners and chief executives, at least two of the endorsement deals were for less than the $28 million Leonard contracted for with Aspiration.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndividual players can be traded or get hurt,\u201d said Bill Day, a senior vice president and spokesman for Frost Bank, former jersey sponsor and current arena sponsor for the San Antonio Spurs. \u201cWe sometimes have players, or more likely, former players attend events that we sponsor, but we don\u2019t have individual endorsements because it\u2019s easier to build long-term relationships with the teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Kawhi Leonard\u2019s deals with team sponsor Aspiration, worth up to $48 million, shocked sources around the NBA. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Athletic could not find another financial relationship between an NBA team and one of its chief sponsors similar to the one between the Clippers and Aspiration in which team ownership contributed millions of dollars to the sponsor\u2019s coffers. While it is not unusual for team owners and team sponsors to be close \u2014 for instance, the Cleveland Cavaliers are owned by Dan Gilbert, who also owns Cavs\u2019 arena sponsor Rocket Mortgage; and Miami Heat owner Micky Arison is the chairman of Carnival Corp, a Heat sponsor \u2014 in those cases, players on the team do not have separate endorsement deals with the team\u2019s sponsor.<\/p>\n

The Athletic also found a close tie between a team and its jersey sponsor in which a team\u2019s CEO sat on the sponsor\u2019s board of directors. Cynthia Marshall served as the chief executive for the Dallas Mavericks from 2018 to 2024 and has also been a board member for Chime, the Mavs\u2019 jersey sponsor, since 2021. According to a recent federal Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Chime, Marshall was paid more than $230,000 in salary and stock from Chime last year.<\/p>\n

While Chime didn\u2019t sign a Mavericks player to an individual sponsorship deal while Marshall worked for both organizations, three league sources granted anonymity to discuss a private business proposal told The Athletic that Chime offered former Mavs star Luka Don\u010di\u0107 a deal to become pitchman for the company in 2021, which he declined.<\/p>\n

The Flagg deal didn\u2019t materialize until after Marshall left her NBA position at the end of 2024, and Chime said Flagg is the first pro athlete to endorse the company.<\/p>\n

Mavs minority owner Mark Cuban, who has publicly defended Ballmer and the Clippers<\/a>, controlled the Mavs when the Chime partnership began and when Marshall, his top executive, joined the Chime board. He told The Athletic there was nothing improper about Marshall serving in dual roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want them to do well, they want us to do well,\u201d Cuban said. \u201cOur interests are aligned. The NBA approves the jersey deals. And they (Chime) have to disclose she is on the board.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Chime said Marshall has never as a board member voted on, or otherwise participated in, any business related to the Mavericks. The NBA also declined to comment on Marshall\u2019s dual roles with Chime.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg has a separate sponsorship deal with Chime, the team\u2019s jersey sponsor, which is not uncommon in the NBA. But players with separate sponsorships contracts always publicly endorsed the company, according to an Athletic investigation. (Photo by Ethan Miller\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Partnerships between companies and the teams they sponsor already require player participation. Per the NBA\u2019s collective bargaining agreement, players are required to appear for \u201creasonable promotional activities\u201d for team sponsors upon request. Players are supposed to make at least 12 appearances each year for team sponsors. They are required to be paid $3,500 per appearance for their first eight appearances and $4,500 per appearance after that, unless the team decides to pay more \u201cthat is consistent with the team\u2019s past practice and not otherwise unreasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n

When a corporate sponsor is interested in signing a player, the company may ask the NBA team it sponsors for an introduction and remove itself from any negotiation. Ballmer has said<\/a> that is exactly what he did for Aspiration with Leonard, and nothing more.<\/p>\n

One team official and one player agent, granted anonymity to share details of private business relationships between their players and corporate sponsors, discussed separate instances of teams learning about endorsement deals through phone calls from the companies asking to shoot commercials at team facilities involving the star player.<\/p>\n

In both cases, the team official and agent said, the company was required to pay for use of the team building to avoid a hint of impropriety.<\/p>\n

League rules stipulate that a team can be found to have used a business partner to circumvent the salary cap if the contract between the sponsor and player is \u201csubstantially in excess of the fair market value of any services to be rendered by the player,\u201d according to the NBA\u2019s collective bargaining agreement with players.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all pay attention to this,\u201d the team official said. \u201cEvery year we have meetings with our global marketing department to understand the rules and make sure we and our players are following them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 The Athletic\u2019s Sam Amick contributed.<\/p>\n

(Seats with Aspiration covers by Icon Sportswire \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n