Clippers deny 'absurd' allegations of illicit Kawhi payments

The Los Angeles Clippers adamantly denied a report Wednesday that suggested they circumvented the league's salary cap to discreetly pay star Kawhi Leonard through a third company.

In a statement, the Clippers addressed the findings by journalist Pablo Torre as "absurd" and said they had no knowledge of any individual deals Leonard would have signed with Aspiration, a now-bankrupt sustainability startup.

The notion that (owner) Steve (Ballmer) invested in Aspiration in order to funnel money to Kawhi Leonard is absurd. Steve invested because Aspiration's co-founders presented themselves as committed to doing right by their customers while protecting the environment.

After a long campaign of market manipulation, which defrauded not only Steve but numerous southern investors in sports teams, Aspiration filed for bankruptcy. Its co-founder, Joseph Sanberg, recently pleaded guilty to a $243-million fraud. Neither Steve nor the Clippers had knowledge of any improper activity by Aspiration or its co-founder until after the government initiated its investigation. Aspiration was a team sponsor for the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons before defaulting on its contract.

There is nothing unusual or untoward about team sponsors doing endorsement deals with players on the same team. Neither Steve nor the Clippers organization had any oversight of Kawhi's independent endorsement agreement with Aspiration. To say otherwise is flat-out wrong.

The Clippers take NBA compliance extremely seriously, fully respect the league's rules, and welcome its investigation related to Aspiration. The Clippers will also continue to cooperate with law enforcement in its in investigation into Aspiration's blatantly fraudulent activity.

Torre unveiled documents Wednesday on his podcast, "Pablo Torre Finds Out," that listed a company named "KL2 Aspire LLC" as Aspiration's fourth-most significant creditor, to which it still owed $7 million as part of a $28-million marketing contract. The forms list a "Kawhi Leonard" as the only manager of KL2 Aspire LLC. Other documents reveal a personal $50-million investment by Ballmer in Aspiration before it signed Leonard to a deal.

Torre cites an interview with a former Aspiration employee who said he or she was told not to ask questions of Leonard's agreement because "it was to circumvent the salary cap."

That employee also claimed that the value of Leonard's contract was significantly larger than all of its other celebrity endorsement agreements. However, the terms of Leonard's deal allowed him to easily opt out of any and all obligations without terminating the contract, according to documents unearthed by Torre.

Aspiration filed for bankruptcy in March after Sanberg was arrested on felony fraud charges. He pleaded guilty in August.

Leonard is entering his seventh season with the Clippers, though he's only played six after sitting out 2021-22 with a torn ACL. He signed a three-year, $153-million extension in January 2024 that ties him to the team through the 2026-27 season.