{"id":159476,"date":"2025-09-18T13:34:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T17:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=159476"},"modified":"2025-09-18T13:34:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T17:34:10","slug":"follow-the-money-steve-ballmer-kawhi-leonard-aspirations-118m-puzzle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/18\/follow-the-money-steve-ballmer-kawhi-leonard-aspirations-118m-puzzle\/","title":{"rendered":"Follow the Money: Ballmer, Kawhi, and Aspiration\u2019s $118M Puzzle"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Clippers drama with Kawhi Leonard<\/a> 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\u2019s alleged no-show job<\/a> with carbon credits.<\/p>\n

Follow the Money: Steve Ballmer, Kawhi Leonard, and Aspiration\u2019s $118M Puzzle<\/h2>\n

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<\/a>. With every new document, the optics about the entire situation look worse for the Clippers.<\/p>\n

Mark Cuban Helped Clippers Investigation<\/h3>\n

In the newest episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out<\/em>, 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\u2019s subsequent payments to Leonard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Mark Cuban is saying there does actually make a ton of sense,\u201d Torre says. \u201cI 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.<\/p>\n