{"id":157753,"date":"2025-09-03T09:48:43","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T13:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=157753"},"modified":"2025-09-03T09:48:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T13:48:43","slug":"clippers-kawhi-leonard-and-ballmer-implicated-in-28-million-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/03\/clippers-kawhi-leonard-and-ballmer-implicated-in-28-million-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"Clippers&#8217; Kawhi Leonard And Ballmer Implicated In $28 M Scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>LOS ANGELES, CA. \u2014 Pablo Torre spent his summer uncovering more than beach secrets. On his <a  href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/1OwzYk6OCFM?si=4hTJHShVKKwHVigS\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">podcast<\/a> <em>Pablo Torre Finds Out<\/em>, he revealed troubling details about <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/leonaka01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kawhi Leonard\u2019s<\/a> financial ties to a now-bankrupt company. His reporting suggests that Leonard\u2019s $28 million payday from Aspiration, a company backed by Steve Ballmer, may have been an attempt to skirt NBA salary cap rules.<\/p>\n<h2>Clippers&#8217; Kawhi Leonard And Steve Ballmer Implicated In $28 Million Scandal<\/h2>\n<h3>The Aspiration Connection<\/h3>\n<p>Aspiration branded itself as a \u201ctree brokerage.\u201d The company filed for bankruptcy in March 2025. Bankruptcy documents revealed that one of its creditors was KL2 Aspire LLC\u2014an entity tied to Leonard. The filing showed KL2 was owed $7 million. The initials \u201cKL2\u201d appear to connect directly to Leonard and his jersey number.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Kawhi Leonard Signed a Secret $28M Deal. Steve Ballmer Funded a Fraud. We Followed the Money. | PTFO\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1OwzYk6OCFM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Torre reported that Leonard himself was paid $28 million by Aspiration for an endorsement deal. Other stars like Drake, Leonardo Di Caprio, Robert Downey Jr. and even Doc Rivers also lent their names. The difference? Leonard\u2019s name never appeared in any meaningful campaign.<\/p>\n<h3>\u201cHe Didn\u2019t Have to Do Anything\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>Torre interviewed a former Aspiration employee, who claimed the arrangement had little to do with marketing. Instead, it allegedly functioned as a loophole for extra income while Leonard wore a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/clippers\/\" target=\"_self\">Clippers<\/a> jersey.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was to circumvent the salary cap \u2018lol,\u2019\u201d the employee said. \u201cThe single largest payment to an individual for marketing that Aspiration ever made has completely evaded all press. \u2026 He didn\u2019t have to do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The payments were reportedly distributed quarterly, stretching across four years.<\/p>\n<h3>A Contract Clause Raises Eyebrows<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_157761\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-157761\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-157761 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/20250903_140640-1024x564.jpg\" alt=\"Kawhi Leonard and Steve Ballmer are implicated in a $28 million scandal involving Aspiration \" width=\"640\" height=\"353\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/20250903_140640-1024x564.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/20250903_140640-300x165.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/20250903_140640-768x423.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/20250903_140640.jpg 1290w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-157761\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Documents related to the scandal that disclose details and clauses in the agreement between Kawhi Leonard and Aspiration via the Pablo Torre finds out podcast<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Documents reviewed by Torre shed further light. One highlighted section states: \u201cFor avoidance of doubt, if Leonard is still being paid by the Team but is a member of another NBA organization or has retired, either of those instances shall qualify as a triggering event for termination by Company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That language suggests that the payments tied directly to Leonard\u2019s Clippers employment. In short, the deal existed because of his status with Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<h3>Ballmer\u2019s Money Trail<\/h3>\n<p>Ballmer\u2019s role adds another wrinkle. Reports show he injected roughly $50 million into Aspiration, bolstering the firm before its collapse. Around the same time, a $300 million sponsorship deal between Aspiration and the Clippers\u2019 Intuit Dome was announced. The alignment raised suspicions that Leonard\u2019s secret endorsement flowed from Ballmer\u2019s investment.<\/p>\n<h3>Environmental Promises in Question<\/h3>\n<p>Aspiration sold itself as a green pioneer. It boasted of planting millions of trees. Yet investigators found evidence of only a single site visit to a tree-planting project. The company\u2019s environmental claims now look hollow.<\/p>\n<h3>Criminal Fallout<\/h3>\n<p>Aspiration\u2019s co-founder, Joe Sandberg, was <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/california-anti-poverty-activist-accused-210032473.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">arrested<\/a> in March 2025. Prosecutors accuse him of defrauding investors of at least $145 million. Multiple agencies\u2014the DOJ, FBI, CFTC, and SEC\u2014have opened investigations. The scandal extends well beyond basketball.<\/p>\n<h3>Denials and Next Steps<\/h3>\n<p>The Clippers issued a firm denial, stating neither the team nor Ballmer engaged in attempts to circumvent the salary cap. Still, the whispers surrounding Kawhi Leonard&#8217;s $28 million scandal have grown louder.<\/p>\n<p>The NBA and Adam Silver will likely review the matter closely. The league\u2019s office rarely looks the other way when financial dealings threaten competitive balance.<\/p>\n<h3>A Scandal That Won\u2019t Fade<\/h3>\n<p>Whether the Clippers intended to break rules or not, the optics look grim. Kawhi Leonard&#8217;s $28 million scandal now sits at the intersection of sports, business, and regulation. Fans wonder what penalties\u2014if any\u2014will follow.<\/p>\n<p>For now, Torre\u2019s work has cast a long shadow over Leonard\u2019s Los Angeles tenure. This story is far from finished, and more revelations about the scandal seem inevitable.<\/p>\n<p><label>Credit:<\/label>\u00a9 Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LOS ANGELES, CA. \u2014 Pablo Torre spent his summer uncovering more than beach secrets. On his podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out, he revealed troubling details about Kawhi Leonard\u2019s financial ties to a now-bankrupt company. His reporting suggests that Leonard\u2019s $28 million payday from Aspiration, a company backed by Steve Ballmer, may have been an attempt [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":157763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,27,3],"tags":[168,49742,1145],"class_list":["post-157753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-clippers","category-news","tag-kawhi-leonard","tag-salary-cap","tag-steve-ballmer"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157753"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157767,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157753\/revisions\/157767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}