NBA probe of Steve Ballmer, Clippers nears end

The sentencing of Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg to 14 years in federal prison on Monday brings the NBA a step nearer to concluding its nine-month investigation into the Clippers allegedly circumventing the wage cap.

Sanberg pleaded guilty in October to federal costs of conspiring to bilk buyers out of $248 million for portraying the now-defunct Aspiration as a “socially-conscious and sustainable banking services and investment products” firm.

The NBA has declined to remark on the standing of the probe centered on $60 million invested in Aspiration by Clippers proprietor Steve Ballmer and the $28-million contract Clippers star Kawhi Leonard signed with Aspiration for endorsement and advertising and marketing work that he never delivered.

Players are allowed to have separate endorsement and other business offers, but at issue is whether or not the Clippers participated in arranging the facet deal past merely introducing Aspiration executives to Leonard. Doing so can be a violation of Article 13 of the NBA collective bargaining settlement, punishable by a $4.5-million high-quality, the loss of a first-round draft decide and the voiding of Leonard’s contract.

The NBA draft takes place June 23-24 and the Clippers have three picks, including the fifth general choice. The league shouldn’t be anticipated to release its findings until after the NBA Finals, which start Wednesday between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.

Clippers officers haven’t commented on the investigation. But Leonard, who has one 12 months left on a three-year, $149.5-million contract that can pay him $50.3 million next season, told The Athletic after the Clippers’ season-ending sport April 15 that “I think we’re going to be in the clear. I’m not stressing.”

Otherwise, among the few public feedback about the investigation have been letters submitted to federal court decide Stephen V. Wilson forward of Sanberg’s sentencing by Ballmer and the law firm conducting the probe on behalf of the NBA.

The letter from Dave Anders of Wachtell Lipton said that Sanberg offered documentation and info helpful to the NBA investigation during two in-person interviews.

“In all our dealings with Mr. Sanberg, both directly and through his counsel, he provided information that was consistent with our review of contemporaneous documents and other evidence,” Anders wrote. “Mr. Sanberg’s cooperation substantially assisted our investigation, including our ability to develop a more complete understanding of key events.”

Ballmer countered by asking Wilson for a stiff sentence in a five-page Victim Impact Statement posted on social media by his lawyer, David N. Kelley.

“Sanberg continues to exploit his fraud of Mr. Ballmer for his benefit, providing information to the NBA in return for a sentencing letter that the league submitted on his behalf,” Kelley wrote. “The reliability of Sanberg’s information is suspect given that he has pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges, and the government has made its own determination that he is not credible.”

Before handing down the sentence, Wilson made it clear that Sanberg’s credibility was questionable.

“He portrays himself as a do-gooder who was in business to help the world, but he did personally gain from his fraud,” Wilson said, later including, “I would put the grade of his fraud at the zenith.”

Ballmer, a former longtime CEO of Microsoft who has owned the Clippers since 2014, accused Sanberg of focusing on him for his well-known curiosity in environmental sustainability and exaggerating their relationship to persuade others to invest in the fraudulent company. He said he met Sanberg only once.

Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration in September 2021. A month later, the Clippers announced a $300-million sponsorship deal with the company. Ballmer almost granted Aspiration naming rights to the crew’s new $2-billion venue as effectively, but instead selected financial companies firm Intuit. Ballmer made an extra $10-million investment in Aspiration on March 9, 2023.

Ballmer was added in November as a defendant in a civil lawsuit against Sanberg and a number of others related with Aspiration. Ballmer and the other defendants are accused by 11 buyers in Aspiration of fraud and aiding and abetting fraud, with the plaintiffs in search of at least $50 million in damages.

Kelley contended that Ballmer was added as a defendant because of his “visibility and resources,” and portrayed the Clippers proprietor as a sufferer, saying “Mr. Ballmer’s losses are not measured solely, or even primarily, on a balance sheet. They are measured in the reputational damage that will take years to remediate, and in the chilling effect on future endeavors intended to do good.”

The lone public remark about the investigation from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver got here during All-Star Weekend in February at the Intuit Dome when he described the issue as “enormously complex.”

“You have a company in bankruptcy, you have thousands of documents, multiple witnesses that needed to be interviewed,” Silver said.

The investigation was triggered by stories from podcaster Pablo Torre that Leonard’s sponsorship deal with Aspiration was to circumvent the wage cap. Torre and the workers of “Pablo Torre Finds Out” received a Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting for their efforts.