Clippers star Kawhi Leonard reportedly received a delayed $1.75 million payment as part of an endorsement contract with Aspiration, the financially troubled environmental firm, after a Clippers minority owner made a substantial investment in the firm, according to new allegations made Thursday by the “Pablo Torres Finds Out” podcast.
According to the podcast, Clippers vice chairman Dennis J. Wong, who owns 1% of the team (Steve Ballmer owns the other 99%), made a $1.99 million investment in Aspiration, which in turn paid Leonard as part of a $7 million no-show endorsement deal, which stipulated he was to be paid $1.75 million quarterly. Aspiration had missed a payment to Leonard in the fall of 2022 before coming up with the funds following Wong’s wire transfer to the firm.
Torre said on the podcast that according to confidential documents he obtained, DFA 88 Investments, a limited partnership registered to Wong, purchased 0.072% of Aspiration on Dec. 6, 2022, which was in default at the time. Nine days later, Aspiration sent Leonard $1.75 million via his company, KL2 Aspire LLC, according to the podcast.
Last week, the NBA announced that it is investigating the Clippers to determine if the team circumvented league rules regarding salaries after Torre first reported last week of alleged wrongdoing in Leonard’s business arrangement with Aspiration.
On Wednesday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver suggested he would be “reluctant to act” on any penalties without strong evidence linking the Clippers and Ballmer to Leonard’s deals with the environmental firm.
Ballmer has denied any wrongdoing, claiming that he was “conned” by the owners of Aspiration.
“The burden is on the league if we’re going to discipline a team, an owner, a player or any constituent members of the league,” Silver told reporters after the NBA Board of Governors meeting. “I think, as with any process that requires a fundamental sense of fairness, the burden should be on the party that is, in essence, bringing those charges.
“Then, in terms of your specific question about circumstantial evidence, I was only quasi-joking with someone earlier that when people talk about a smoking gun, that’s obviously circumstantial. It means the gun is still smoking; it must have recently fired.”
According to documents obtained by the podcast, payments to Leonard were marked “critical,” despite the firm’s financial woes. Aspiration was facing numerous lawsuits from other investors over missed payments.
Dennis Robertson, Leonard’s uncle and designated representative on his Aspiration contract, reportedly made several calls regarding the missed payment. Robertson did not respond to questions submitted by Torre.
“In all fairness to Uncle Dennis (Robertson), he’s not the only one who’s calling trying to get paid,” one of the former Aspiration employees said on the podcast. “There’s a huge freeze because there’s no money to be spent. So, from the finance team’s perspective, we feel like we’re on the other end of collections calls. People are constantly coming in asking for their money.”