Los Angeles Clippers Owner Steve Ballmer Maintains He Was ‘Personally Defrauded’ by Aspiration

Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer maintains he was “personally defrauded” by Aspiration.

According to Pablo Torre of Pablo Torre Finds Out, Aspiration paid Clippers star Kawhi Leonard $48 million for a “no-show job” intended to circumvent the NBA salary cap.

“This is not a fun thing to be through,” Ballmer told SBJ Publisher & Executive Editor Abe Madkour. “I was personally defrauded through our interactions with the company and some of the staff. The fraud sort of extended broadly.

“Through that, we had many relationships with the company — sponsor, activation, [it] was through carbon credits, all a bunch of complicated stuff. But the important thing is, our relationship with the company and our player’s relationship with the company were independent, which is important under the rules of the NBA. I feel quite confident in that, that we abided [by] the rules. So, I welcome the investigation that the NBA is doing. It’s a great way, from our perspective, to get the facts out there.”

Ballmer introduced Aspiration to Leonard in November 2021, three months after the Clippers had agreed to a four-year, $173 million extension with Leonard. Two months earlier, in September 2021, the Clippers announced a lucrative $300 million partnership with Aspiration.

Aspiration paid Leonard $1.7 million days after Clippers minority owner Dennis J. Wong made an almost $2 million investment in the company. This took place in December 2022. Leonard also got $20 million in Aspiration shares directly from co-founder Joe Sanberg.

Ballmer invested an additional $10 million in Aspiration in March 2023. The billionaire invested $50 million in Aspiration 18 months before that.

Leonard signed with the Clippers in 2019. LAC has never made the NBA Finals in franchise history.

A future Hall of Famer, Leonard will make $50 million from the Clippers in 2025-26 and $50.3 million in 2026-27. The NBA legend becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2027.