‘Embarrassed’ Clippers owner Steve Ballmer breaks silence over Kawhi Leonard endorsement scandal
NY Post
Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Steve Ballmer is calling on the NBA to investigate other teams accused of circumventing the league’s salary cap in his first comments since being the target of a probe involving Kawhi Leonard’s endorsement deal.
“I’d want the league to investigate, take it seriously. Salary cap circumvention rules are important to the league, and I’d want the league to investigate,” Ballmer told ESPN Thursday.
On Wednesday, podcaster Pablo Torre reported allegations of Ballmer and Leonard circumventing the league’s salary cap with a lucrative $28 million no-show marketing deal with environmental start-up Aspiration.
Ballmer invested $50 million into the San Francisco-based company and had deals lined up for advertising opportunities, and at one point, naming rights for the team’s new Inglewood arena that opened in 2024.
“We were done. We were done with Kawhi, we were done with Aspiration. The deals were all locked and loaded,” Ballmer told the outlet. “Then, they did request to be introduced to Kawhi, and under the rules, we can introduce our sponsors to our athletes. We just can’t be involved.”
The two-time NBA champion was introduced to the company in November 2021, two months after the team inked the $300 million sponsorship deal with Aspiration.
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