{"id":604294,"date":"2026-04-24T20:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T20:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/604294\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T20:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T20:36:08","slug":"ballmer-letter-in-aspiration-case-alleges-nba-deal-in-kawhi-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/604294\/","title":{"rendered":"Ballmer Letter in Aspiration Case Alleges NBA Deal in Kawhi Probe"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThrough his attorney, Los Angeles Clippers<\/a> owner Steve Ballmer<\/a> this week\u00a0sent a letter<\/a>\u00a0to U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson in which the billionaire owner said he was duped and victimized by Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg, who faces prison sentencing for his fraud conviction on Monday.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe letter highlights how Sanberg, who last year pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud related to a scheme to defraud lenders and investors of more than $248 million between 2020 and 2025, has cooperated in an NBA<\/a> investigation into the possibility the Clippers\u00a0circumvented the salary cap<\/a>\u00a0by using Aspiration to funnel additional money to star player Kawhi Leonard<\/a> through a no-show endorsement deal.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs Ballmer sees it, Sanberg agreed to cooperate in exchange for the league submitting a favorable sentencing letter to Judge Wilson, and thus he shouldn\u2019t be regarded as a credible informant.<\/p>\n

\n\tBallmer lost $60 million in Aspiration, which has since renamed itself Catona, and that the letter says attracted Ballmer because he \u201cbelieved in Aspiration\u2019s stated environmental mission\u201d as well as Sanberg\u2019s representations about the company\u2019s financial strength.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMr. Ballmer is a clear and undisputed victim of Sanberg\u2019s fraud\u2014one of the single largest of Sanberg\u2019s many victims,\u201d the letter states, adding that Ballmer lost his entire investment in a company that was supposed to \u201cpromote sustainability and benefit charitable causes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBallmer\u2019s letter is crafted as a victim impact statement and was written by his attorney, David N. Kelley of O\u2019Melveny & Myers.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlthough the letter was sent to a federal judge, Ballmer\u2019s intended audience likely includes NBA commissioner Adam Silver.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe commissioner will decide if the Clippers arranged for Leonard to receive compensation outside of his employment contract. The CBA prohibits side deals with players, such as teams arranging for a player to receive additional money as a scout, business partner, endorser or some other position, with the core principle that the 30 teams need to play by the same set of rules to guarantee fair play and legitimate competition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tObviously, if one team could sweeten the pot for free agents by saying it would arrange for side deals, therefore being able to spend beyond the salary cap, that team would gain an unfair advantage. At the same time, teams and their athletes signing sponsorship and endorsement deals<\/a> with the same company occurs in modern sports and is not automatically suspicious.<\/p>\n

\n\tIf Silver concludes the Clippers violated the CBA, he could issue fines, suspend Ballmer and others, or order the forfeiture of Clippers draft picks. Silver could even void Leonard\u2019s contract with the Clippers.<\/p>\n

\n\tLast year, journalist and podcaster Pablo Torre, of\u00a0Pablo Torre Finds Out,\u00a0revealed<\/a>\u00a0details concerning a four-year endorsement deal Leonard and Aspiration signed in 2022. Torre said Leonard wasn\u2019t obligated to perform actions for payment and that the endorsement deal would end if Leonard was traded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tLeonard\u2019s deal with Aspiration occurred as Ballmer invested in the company and as the Clippers and Aspiration signed deals that contemplated a $300 million partnership for Aspiration to sponsor the Clippers\u2019 arena and the team\u2019s jersey patch. Aspiration\u2019s finances went sideways, however, as Sanberg was charged with wire fraud and Aspiration filed for bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Clippers and Ballmer deny wrongdoing occurred and maintain that Ballmer was a victim of Sanberg\u2019s fraud.<\/p>\n

\n\tBallmer\u2019s letter makes a point of saying that Sanberg \u201ccontinues to exploit his fraud\u201d of Ballmer by \u201cproviding information to the NBA.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTo that end, the letter contends that Sanberg has shared materials with the NBA in a deal, namely \u201cin return for a sentencing letter that the league submitted on his behalf.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOn April 17, David Anders, a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, whom the NBA retained to investigate the Clippers, wrote a letter to Judge Wilson seen by\u00a0Sportico. In the letter, Anders said he and other investigators sought Sanberg\u2019s cooperation to further the investigation. Sanberg \u201cvoluntarily provided\u201d assistance, Anders writes, and Sanberg\u2019s attorneys \u201crequested that we advise the Court of the nature of Mr. Sanberg\u2019s cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnders adds that Sanberg met with investigators for two in-person interviews and produced documents. In addition, Sanberg\u2019s attorney provided \u201cadditional information that was relevant to our investigation.\u201d Sanberg, Anders added, helped the investigators \u201cdevelop a more complete understanding of key events.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnders doesn\u2019t say that investigators necessarily believe everything Sanberg\u2014whose veracity is questionable given that he is an admitted fraudster\u2014said or shared. But he does say Sanberg \u201cprovided information that was consistent with our review of contemporaneous documents and other evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOn behalf of Ballmer, Kelley contends that whatever Sanberg said and shared with NBA investigators should be regarded as \u201csuspect,\u201d since he was motivated to seem useful.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnders\u2019 letter disputes Ballmer\u2019s characterization of a tit-for-tat. A former prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, Anders wrote, \u201cat no time during our dealings with Mr. Sanberg and his counsel did they seek, nor did we make, any promises in exchange for his cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSanberg, 46, could face a long stay in prison. In a sentence recommendation submitted by Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and other federal prosecutors on April 13, the government pushed for a prison sentence of 212 months (17 years and eight months). Prosecutors say Sanberg \u201cis a serial fraudster who raised hundreds of millions of dollars in an effort to build an empire and a fortune based on lies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA sentencing memorandum filed by Sanberg\u2019s attorneys on April 19 adopts a cheerier tone. It contends Sanberg \u201cbelieved deep in his soul that [Aspiration] could change banking practices that were unfair to ordinary families and harmful to the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the memorandum acknowledges Sanberg\u2019s \u201cexecution \u2026 was bad,\u201d it insists his \u201cintentions were good.\u201d To advance that point, the memorandum underscores how Sanberg \u201csubstantially assisted\u201d the NBA\u2019s investigation into the Clippers and did so \u201cvoluntarily and with nothing promised in return.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSportico reached out to the NBA for comment on Ballmer\u2019s victim impact statement.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a separate proceeding in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Aspiration investors have\u00a0sued<\/a> Ballmer and Catona board members\u00a0for fraud and related claims. The basic theory of the civil lawsuit is that investors were misled into investing into a fraudulent enterprise. Ballmer asserts he not only did nothing wrong, but he was a victim of the same fraudulent enterprise. His court filings also contend the plaintiffs are overly reliant on Torre\u2019s podcast for alleged evidence.<\/p>\n

\n\tA major pro sports league writing a letter to a judge about a cooperating witness and informant facing prison isn\u2019t unprecedented. In 1989, MLB commissioner Bart Giamatti\u00a0wrote a letter<\/a>\u00a0to U.S. District Judge Carl Rubin, who was set to sentence Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose\u2019s bookie, Ron Peters, to prison for drug and tax crimes. Giamatti wrote that Peters had been \u201ccandid, forthright and truthful\u201d and had \u201cprovided critical sworn testimony about Mr. Rose and his associates.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe move backfired on MLB when Judge Rubin wrote in a pre-sentencing conference that \u201cthe baseball commissioner entering into what I think is . . . a vendetta against Pete Rose.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRose later\u00a0sued MLB<\/a>\u00a0on the theory that it had prejudged his guilt since Giamatti described Rose\u2019s accuser as \u201ccandid, forthright and truthful.\u201d Ultimately Rose, who died in 2024, and MLB negotiated a settlement that led to his lifetime ban, which MLB lifted last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Through his attorney, Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer this week\u00a0sent a letter\u00a0to U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[197570,11653,11952,355,99,11652],"class_list":["post-604294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-endorsement-deals","tag-kawhi-leonard","tag-los-angeles-clippers","tag-nba","tag-sports","tag-steve-ballmer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}