The Los Angeles Clippers drama with Kawhi Leonard and Aspiration continues to unfold. In his latest report, Pablo Torre is back with more receipts on Steve Ballmer and the mysterious company that he and the Clippers sent $118 million to within 18 months, funding Leonard’s alleged no-show job with carbon credits.
Follow the Money: Steve Ballmer, Kawhi Leonard, and Aspiration’s $118M Puzzle
The NBA cannot continue to ignore the Clippers’ situation, especially as new documents emerge. After the last board of governors meeting, NBA commissioner Adam Silver confirmed that there will be an independent investigation into the matter. Armed with his juris doctor, he acknowledges that Ballmer, Leonard and the Clippers are innocent until proven otherwise. At the same time, if the NBA finds the Clippers guilty of cap circumvention, the penalties could be severe. With every new document, the optics about the entire situation look worse for the Clippers.
Mark Cuban Helped Clippers Investigation
In the newest episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out, Torre discusses how he and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban have taken different sides in the investigation. In fact, Cuban frequently tweets about the Clippers-Aspiration situation, going back and forth with Torre to defend Ballmer. Keeping that in perspective, Torre thanks Cuban, suggesting that he should try to find a connection between the team sending Aspiration money for carbon credits and the company’s subsequent payments to Leonard.
“What Mark Cuban is saying there does actually make a ton of sense,” Torre says. “I must admit. Because Aspiration was working as a broker for carbon credits. According to my sources, they charged $1 per tree. That is five times more than it costs to plant a tree.
So, the piece of paper I want to address. This letter that you just read, says that the Clippers were withdrawing $21 million to fund carbon projects. The sign at the bottom is the Chief Financial Officer of the Clippers. This, I am told, was enough to pay Kawhi and keep the company afloat two weeks before Leonard’s initial no-show payment was due.”
After the podcast aired, Cuban continued to tweet Torre, saying:
“You are missing the big prize that drove everything. You have your sports brain on. But this really isn’t about sports at all. It’s a story about a guy who defrauded a lot of people and whose only hope of staying out of jail was this merger happening and then the stock price going up. A lot.”
Nobody can say who’s right. Only one thing is certain — the LA Clippers continue to make headlines for the wrong reasons.
Follow the Money: Did Steve Ballmer and the Clippers fund Aspiration?
How far the rabbit hole this investigation goes is anyone’s guess at this point. Nevertheless, Torre has detailed all the payments he’s found that were made between Ballmer, the Clippers, Aspiration, and Leonard. Here’s the complete timeline:
- September 14, 2021 – Steve Ballmer invests $50 million through his company
- September 27, 2021 – Clippers announce Aspiration Deal
- April 1, 2022 – Clippers fund $3 million in carbon credits
- April 4, 2022 – Clippers fund $32 in carbon credits
- June 17, 2022 – Clippers fund $21 million in carbon credits
- July 6, 2022 – Leonard paid $1.75 million
- December 6, 2022 – Wong LLC Invests $2 million in Aspiration
- December 15, 2022 – Leonard paid $1.75 million
- March 9, 2023 – Ballmer LLC Invests $10 million
- Late March 2023 – Government investigation opens about Aspiration
With more receipts popping up weekly, it’ll be no surprise if the Clippers invested more money than they received from Aspiration in their deal.
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