LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer breaks silence…
Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Steve Ballmer is asking on the NBA to examine other groups accused of circumventing the league’s wage cap in his first feedback since being the goal 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 wage cap with a profitable $28 million no-show advertising and marketing deal with environmental start-up Aspiration.
Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Steve Ballmer fingers Kawhi Leonard his jersey during an introduction to the staff with Paul George on July 24, 2019. Getty Images
Ballmer invested $50 million into the San Francisco-based company and had offers lined up for promoting alternatives, and at one level, naming rights for the staff’s new Inglewood area 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 launched to the company in November 2021, two months after the staff inked the $300 million sponsorship deal with Aspiration.
Ballmer claims he, nor the staff, had any involvement with the offers between Leonard and the company, and have been unaware of any negotiations until the partnership was announced.
“We even found the email that makes the first introduction. It was early November,” Ballmer said. “The introduction bought made and then they have been off to the races on, on their own. We weren’t concerned.
“I eventually learned that they had reached a deal. I have no idea what the deal was,” he added.
Steve Ballmer seems on SportsHeart on Sept. 4, 2025. ESPN
Kawhi Leonard with the ball during a recreation against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on March 26, 2025. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST
Aspiration also gave Leonard a “side-deal” value $20 million, Torre reported on Friday, citing the Boston Sports Journal.
A former Clippers worker told Torre that Ballmer allegedly instructed staffers not to query Leonard’s deal because it was to “circumvent the wage cap.
Ballmer says he was conned by the company, as his mere investment bought him less than three % of the Aspiration used to legitimize the company to other potential buyers.
“I had no board seat. I had no control. Heck, it was a fraudulent company. It’s possible nobody had any control,” he said.
Aspiration co-founder Joe Sanberg pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud for defrauding buyers and lenders of more than $248 million, the Justice Department announced in August.
Kawhi Leonard seems to be in direction of the scoreboard during the second half of a recreation in the Intuit Dome on May 1, 2025. AP
Ballmer says he was conned by the company, as his mere investment bought him less than three % of the Aspiration used to legitimize the company to other potential buyers. ESPN
He faces up to 40 years in prison.
“These were guys who committed fraud. Look, they conned me. They conned me. I made an investment in these guys thinking it was on the up-and-up, and they conned me at this stage. I have no ability to predict why they might have done anything they did, let alone the specific contract with Kawhi,” Ballmer said.
“I reviewed, my staff reviewed primarily fraudulent financials,” he said. “Now, should I have sniffed it out? Maybe I feel embarrassed and kind of silly that I didn’t sniff it out, but I didn’t,” Ballmer said. “I made the investment. A lot of other smart investors didn’t sniff it out either.”
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