Clippers deny Kawhi Leonard cap violation report

Clippers wing Kawhi Leonard found himself as the subject of unwanted scrutiny Wednesday, when it was reported by insider Pablo Torre on his “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast that the six-time All-Star had inked a $28MM endorsement deal for “tree brokerage” Aspiration, a former team sponsor that filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. L.A. owner Steve Ballmer apparently invested $50MM into that company.

The 6’7″ swingman apparently did not do any work for the apparently phony tree-planting company, and the endorsement agreement could potentially have been a route for Leonard to earn more money beyond his salary in a way that would have helped L.A. avoid the salary cap. Other involved celebrities, including movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Downey Jr., apparently did perform work.

The NBA is now investigating the situation to determine if there was indeed any impropriety.

The Clippers released an initial statement to The Los Angeles Times denying any wrongdoing. Now, Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link) has released a lengthier response from L.A.

“Neither Mr. Ballmer nor the Clippers circumvented the salary cap or engaged in any misconduct related to Aspiration,” the Clippers stated. “After a long campaign of market manipulation, which defrauded not only Steve but numerous other investors and sports teams, Aspiration filed for bankruptcy.”

In August, company co-founder Joseph Sanberg pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud as part of a $248MM plot to defraud Aspiration investors and lenders.

“There is nothing unusual or untoward about team sponsors doing endorsement deals with players on the same time,” the Clippers declared. “Neither Steve nor the Clippers organization had any oversight of Kawhi’s independent endorsement agreement with Aspiration. To say otherwise is flat-out wrong.”

“The Clippers take NBA compliance extremely seriously, fully respect the league’s rules, and welcome its investigation related to Aspiration,” L.A. added. “The Clippers will also continue to cooperate with law enforcement in its investigation into Aspiration’s blatantly fraudulent activity.”

Torre responded (Twitter link), to L.A.’s claims, asserting the validity of his reporting and challenging some of the language in the Clippers’ statement.