The allegations surrounding the LA Clippers circumventing the salary cap to sign Kawhi Leonard raise major concerns for the team’s future. The franchise’s owner, Steve Ballmer, has adamantly denied these claims, but those around the league don’t seem to buy his explanation.
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The Los Angeles Clippers were having a calm offseason for the most part until one day, it changed it all. Sports journalist Pablo Torre dropped a bombshell report, claiming the Clippers allegedly got involved in shady practices to sign Leonard.
The Clippers reportedly funnelled $50 million into the now-bankrupt company Aspiration. Torre alleges that money was a part of a $48 million sponsorship deal between Leonard and Aspiration for a “no-show job.” Of course, if this is proven to be true, it is against the league’s CBA rules and can lead to mighty punishment.
After Torre’s report, the NBA filed their own official investigation into the matter. Steve Ballmer didn’t waste any time in breaking his silence. Shortly after, he sat down with ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne to state his side of the story.
“And because I was enthusiastic, I read their business plan,” Ballmer said. “Remember, they defrauded me. They defrauded many other investors, much bigger than me. But I read the business plan and said, ‘Hey, this makes sense to support them,’ to support us, we made an investment in the company.”
Ballmer claims that he had no idea about Aspiration’s business dealings. More specifically, he stated that the Clippers were victims of fraud at the hands of the environmental company.
Although Ballmer could certainly be telling the truth, nothing will be known for certain until the investigation concludes. Nevertheless, executives around the league haven’t minced their words on Ballmer’s status in the entire situation.
“People around the league are having a hard time buying the Clippers’ denials,” The Ringer’s Howard Beck said. “One exec said it’s ‘stretching credulity’ to believe Aspiration acted on its own, a start-up would hand a player tens of millions without requiring anything in return or go to such great lengths unless the team had asked.”
Every NBA executive is extremely knowledgeable about the league’s salary cap or is at least expected to be. Without any hard evidence, the majority of them have a strong premonition of how this will pan out.
“The initial reaction around the league to that report? ‘They’re f****,’ said one team executive. ‘That’s what most people think,'” Beck said.
The Clippers, meanwhile have also failed to live up to expectations since acquiring Leonard in 2019. If they were to experience another setback through consequences from the league, their quest for an NBA title may be further in the horizon than their fans would like.
