INGLEWOOD — Clippers owner Steve Ballmer allegedly was aware of the dealings Aspiration had with forward Kawhi Leonard in paying the six-time All-Star $28 million for a no-show endorsement deal, according to company investors.
Ballmer was sued on Monday by 11 Aspiration investors, according to investigative journalist Pablo Torre, who claimed the billionaire owner used the company “to secretly funnel millions of dollars” to Leonard.
According to the civil lawsuit, Ballmer directly sent funds to Aspiration, now known as “Catona”, to induce Leonard to re-sign with the Clippers in 2021 by covertly paying him more money than allowed by NBA salary cap rules.
Baller was “complicit in and aided and abetted” in the fraud, the lawsuit said. The plaintiffs alleged, too, that Ballmer transferred other funds to the company to keep it “afloat” and buy co-founder Joe Sanberg’s “support, cooperation and silence about the secret deal with Leonard.”
The plaintiffs are seeking at least $50 million in damages.
“A lot of people have been hurt here,” Aspiration investor and plaintiff Skip Miller told Torre on his podcast. “This lawsuit is being brought to recoup their losses. We look forward to our day in court where everything will be aired out and justice will be done.”
Torre first reported the allegations listed in the lawsuit on his podcast in September. Ballmer allegedly used a $28 million no-show marketing deal between Leonard and Aspiration to get around the NBA’s salary cap rules and pay him more, according to the report. Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration at its founding stage in 2021.
Ballmer has denied any wrongdoing, telling ESPN that any deal Leonard made with Aspiration was made independent of him and the team, insisting he was “conned.” The NBA is investigating the matter.
The league – which previously looked into claims that Leonard’s representatives asked for certain things that would be considered cap circumventions when he was a free agent several years ago – can issue stiff penalties if cap rules are found to have been broken by a team, including a fine of up to $7.5 million, the voiding of contracts and the forfeiture of future draft picks.
Leonard also has denied being involved in any wrongdoing associated with his deal with Aspiration. Asked about the matter during the team’s preseason media day on Sept. 29, Leonard said, “I don’t think it’s accurate” that he provided no endorsement services to the company. He added that he hadn’t been paid all the money due to him from the deal.