The allegations behind the Clippers’ reported efforts to circumvent the salary cap for star forward Kawhi Leonard go even deeper.<\/p>\n
According to a new report Friday from The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov<\/a>, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested almost $10 million sustainability-focused financial company Aspiration in March 2023. The investment is according to legal filings reviewed by The Athletic which they corroborated with a former Aspiration executive.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, Pablo Torre reported on his Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast that Leonard signed a $28 million no-show endorsement deal <\/a>with the now-bankrupt company in April 2022. Torre’s reporting alleged that Ballmer invested $50 million to which he responded<\/a> that the company “defrauded” and “conned” him as well as many others in an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter.<\/p>\n The $10 million investment in March 2023 that The Athletic is now reporting came 18 months after the larger sum. Pablo Torre Finds Out reported <\/a>Thursday that Clippers minority owner Dennis Wong invested nearly $2 million in Aspiration around the same time the company was late on a $1.75 million payment to Leonard. Ballmer’s 2023 investment was part of a fundraising round made up almost entirely of previous Aspiration investors with the exception of Wong, per The Athletic<\/a>.<\/p>\n Andrei Cherny, the former CEO of Aspiration, posted a lengthy statement to X on Friday<\/a>, in which he denied that the contract Leonard signed with the company was a “no show” deal, and said he did not remember any discussions about the NBA salary cap as it pertained to Leonard’s agreement. Cherny stepped down as CEO in 2022.<\/p>\n