The City of Angels Clippers and proprietor Steve Ballmer are encountering scrutiny from the National Basketball Association due to allegations indicating the squad and Ballmer seemingly offered unauthorized benefits to prominent player Kawhi Leonard with the intent of subverting the established salary limitations. Both the Clippers and Ballmer have staunchly refuted these allegations, asserting they did not channel funds to Leonard through Aspiration, an entity in which Ballmer held investments.
These denials were thrust into uncertainty this Thursday after fresh reporting from journalist Pablo Torre. In the most recent installment of Torre’s podcast, titled “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” he thoroughly examined a noteworthy investment by Clippers co-proprietor Dennis Wong into Aspiration, suggesting these funds may have been allocated to compensate Leonard.
Torre, the journalist who initially brought this narrative to light, once more brought to the forefront formal documented proof that Wong, a former associate of Ballmer during their collegiate years, invested $1.99 million into Aspiration through an entity referred to as DEA 88 Investments. This transaction transpired only nine days before Leonard secured a payment of $1.75 million from the aforementioned company.
Wong’s financial infusion occurred during a period when Aspiration was grappling with significant cash flow challenges, already behind on a scheduled quarterly payment to Leonard. Torre engaged in discussions with two former individuals from Aspiration, who provided extensive details regarding the company’s financial difficulties coinciding with Wong’s investment. Torre’s primary source asserted that Aspiration was in a state of “financial ruin” at the time Wong injected capital into the company in December 2022.
Torre posited that, given Ballmer’s direct involvement, coupled with staff reductions and the circumstance that Wong’s daughter was employed by Aspiration, Wong should have been aware of Aspiration’s impending failure.
Regardless of this, Wong opted to allocate a sum mirroring the amount Leonard was poised to receive just days prior to Leonard’s company—KL2 Aspire LLC—receiving its funds. One of Torre’s informants highlighted that, given the financial duress faced by Aspiration, a $2 million infusion was insufficient to rescue the company, thereby intensifying doubt regarding the amount Wong contributed to Aspiration during its decline. Aspiration ultimately declared bankruptcy in March.
Torre’s secondary source, employed within Aspiration’s finance division, conveyed a belief that Wong’s capital infusion was intended to ensure Leonard’s compensation.
“It strongly suggests that the Clippers, by way of Dennis Wong, invested $2 million to facilitate Aspiration’s payment of $1.75 million to Kawhi. That is my perception of the situation.”
It is crucial to emphasize that Torre’s secondary source was not corroborating these events but rather speculating based on observations made while serving in Aspiration’s finance department.
National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver addressed the issue with reporters this Wednesday, stipulating that tangible evidence of the Clippers violating regulations would be required before any sanctions could be imposed on the team.
Throughout Thursday’s program, Torre endeavored to demonstrate that Wong’s investment and Aspiration’s subsequent payment could constitute the irrefutable evidence the NBA is actively seeking in its investigation.
Should the league ascertain that the Clippers’ proprietors consciously bestowed undue benefits upon Leonard following his free agency acquisition by the team, the squad, Ballmer, Wong, and potentially numerous others could be subjected to punitive measures by Silver and the NBA.
When Silver initially investigated Leonard’s free agency in 2019, he characterized the provision of impermissible benefits to a player with the intent of circumventing the salary cap as “a fundamental breach of NBA regulations.” In 2019, the league discovered no evidence of Leonard receiving unlawful benefits.
Torre’s reporting has called into question the accuracy of the NBA’s initial assessment. Following Torre’s subsequent revelation, the league possesses additional evidence to consider during its ongoing investigation.
