THE Los Angeles Clippers and team owner Steve Ballmer are accused of paying one of their players for a “no-show job” to get around the NBA salary cap.
According to a report by Pablo Torre, Kawhi Leonard was paid $28 million through a company owned by Ballmer outside of the team’s payroll.
Kawhi Leonard was allegedly paid $28 million off the books by Steve Ballmer[/caption]
Ballmer owns the Clippers, and allegedly used one of his other companies to pay Leonard[/caption]
Torre revealed his findings of the alleged scandal on his show, Pablo Torres finds out, on Wednesday.
The show alleged that Leonard was allegedly paid $28 million through a company owned by Ballmer to do nothing.
This alleged agreement is a way to pay Leonard more than his contract without getting a bigger salary cap hit.
It is a blatant violation of NBA rules if true.
The alleged scandal surrounds a bankrupt company called Aspiration, a tree-planting service that Ballmer founded.
According to documents obtained by Torre, Aspiration allegedly entered a $28 million legal agreement with KL2 Aspire, LLC, a company that Leonard owns.
Torre says he couldn’t find any evidence that Leonard ever endorsed the company.
He also claims he found a clause in one of the contract documents between the two companies that said Leonard could “decline to proceed with any action desired by the Company,”
Another clause allegedly indicated that Leonard would only be paid if he was a member of the Clippers.
“For 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,” one of the documents Torre obtained read.
Torre spoke to multiple former Aspiration employees, one of which spoke through a voice modifier on record.
The employee claimed the deal with Leonard was done to “circumvent the salary cap.”
The alleged scandal was summarized in a four-and-a-half minute video posted on Torre’s X account.
The Clippers responded to Torre’s accusations by sending him a statement.
“Neither Mr. Ballmer nor the Clippers circumvented the salary cap or engaged in any misconduct related to Aspiration,” the team said.
“Any contrary assertion is provably false.”
Leonard has been a member of the Clippers since 2019[/caption]
The NBA has not released a statement on Torre’s report at this time.
Payments from Aspiration to KL2 Aspire were allegedly sent to Dennis Robertson, Leonard’s advisor who was previously investigated by the NBA.
He was investigated for asking for impermissible benefits, but the league found no evidence that the Clippers granted them to Leonard in free agency.
At the time of that investigation in 2019, NBA commissioner Adam Silver labeled the issue “a cardinal sin of the NBA,” according to The Athletic.
He also indicated that the league would re-open its investigation if more evidence came to light.
Leonard joined he Clippers on a three-year, $104 million deal in 2019 and has since extended that deal twice, signing a four-year, $176 million extension in 2021 and a three-year, $149 million extension in 2024.
