Steve Ballmer addressed allegations of attainable cap circumvention dedicated by the Los Angeles Clippers involving a Kawhi Leonard endorsement contract in a sit-down interview on Thursday with ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
Ballmer stated Aspiration requested him to make an introduction to Leonard in November 2021, which was three months after the Clippers signed him to a four-year, $173 million extension. Aspiration agreed to a $300 million sponsorship partnership with the Clippers in September 2021.
“We have been carried out. We have been carried out with Kawhi, we have been carried out with Aspiration. The offers have been all locked and loaded,” Ballmer stated. “Then, they did request to be launched to Kawhi, and below the foundations, we are able to introduce our sponsors to our athletes. We simply cannot be concerned.
“We made an introduction, that was in early November.”
Aspiration has since gone bankrupt with its co-foudner, Joe Sanberg, pleading responsible to 2 counts of wire fraud for defrauding buyers and lenders of greater than $248 million.
“We even discovered the e-mail that makes the primary introduction. It was early November,” Ballmer stated. “The introduction bought made after which they have been off to the races on, on their very own. We weren’t concerned.
“I finally realized that that they had reached a deal. I do not know what the deal was.”
Ballmer was requested if he was shocked by the quantity of Leonard’s endorsement deal or by the actual fact no providers have been fashioned by the All-Star for Aspiration.
“I do not know why they did what they did, and I do not understand how totally different it’s [compared with other endorsement deals],” stated Leonard.
“These have been guys who dedicated fraud. Look, they conned me. They conned me. I made an funding in these guys pondering it was on the up-and-up, and so they conned me at this stage. I’ve no means to foretell why they may have carried out something they did, not to mention the particular contract with Kawhi.”
Requested why there have been so many allegations about Leonard within the six years he has performed for the franchise, Ballmer stated, “I do not know. I feel as a result of he, comparatively does not converse a lot, I feel there’s lots of thriller round Kawhi.
“That could be why followers type of inform themselves, [or] you realize, create a story, if you’ll. I’ve had a terrific relationship with Kawhi. We sit down a pair instances a 12 months and simply type of speak about how the crew’s doing.
“The allegations haven’t been true. However what’s most essential to me is we have carried out the precise factor in all these interactions. Kawhi’s enterprise is Kawhi’s enterprise. However we have at all times carried out the precise factor.”
