LOS ANGELES — The NBA announced on Wednesday that it will look into a $28 million endorsement deal between basketball star Kawhi Leonard and a California-based sustainability company. This inquiry was prompted by a report from journalist Pablo Torre.
The Los Angeles Clippers, the team Leonard plays for, firmly denied any wrongdoing and expressed their openness to the league’s investigation.
The focus of the NBA’s inquiry will be on the connections between Leonard, the Clippers, and a company named Aspiration Fund Adviser, LLC, which recently filed for bankruptcy. At that time, Aspiration noted that it owed several creditors, including the Clippers, about $30 million.
Leonard is identified as the manager of KL2 Aspire LLC, another entity linked to him, with “KL” representing his initials and “2” denoting his jersey number. Efforts to reach out to Leonard’s representatives for comments were unsuccessful.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass confirmed their awareness of the media reports and the start of the investigation.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration, and the company and the Clippers had announced a $300 million partnership in September 2021, shortly after Leonard agreed to a four-year, $176 million contract extension with the team.
However, the Clippers ended their partnership with Aspiration after two years, stating that the agreement had gone into default.
The team stated, “Neither the Clippers nor Steve Ballmer broke any salary cap rules. The idea that Steve invested in Aspiration to funnel money to Kawhi Leonard is ridiculous. His investment stemmed from Aspiration’s commitment to customer satisfaction and environmental protection.”
They further noted that they had no prior knowledge of any malfeasance related to Aspiration until government investigations began. Aspiration’s co-founder, Joseph Sanberg, recently agreed to plead guilty to federal charges related to defrauding investors and lenders out of $248 million.
Torre’s report mentioned an endorsement agreement between Aspiration and KL2 Aspire, stating that Leonard was set to receive $7 million annually for four years, meaning he would still be owed the final payment at the time of Aspiration’s bankruptcy.
Importantly, there is no evidence that Leonard publicly endorsed Aspiration. The Clippers defended the process: “There is nothing unusual about team sponsors making endorsement deals with players. Neither Steve nor the Clippers oversaw Kawhi’s separate endorsement agreement with Aspiration, and to say otherwise is simply incorrect.”
The league has previously looked into claims regarding Leonard’s side being involved in potential salary cap violations and can impose stiff penalties if any rules were indeed broken, including hefty fines and the loss of draft picks.
As the investigation unfolds, many will be watching closely for developments in this high-profile case.
