Ballmer clueless about Leonard deal

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer says he had no idea that a sponsor of his National Basketball Association (NBA) club reportedly was paying superstar Kawhi Leonard $28 million for a no-work job.

Ballmer spoke with ESPN following a podcast report by journalist Pablo Torre that the Clippers had circumvented NBA salary cap rules through a now-bankrupt company called Aspiration, one in which Ballmer was an investor.

Torre reported that Leonard signed a contract worth $28 million over four years in 2021 to market and endorse Aspiration but never did so, saying an unidentified Aspiration employee told him the payment was to get around NBA salary cap rules.

The Clippers denied the allegations in a statement, saying neither the owner nor the team engaged in any misconduct, but Ballmer made his first public comments on the issue late Thursday.

Leonard signed a four-year contract extension worth $173 million with the Clippers in August 2021 and the following month the team signed a $300 million sponsor deal with Aspiration, whose name went on team jerseys.

“We were done. We were done with Kawhi, we were done with Aspiration. The deals were all locked and loaded,” Ballmer told ESPN.

“Then, they did request to be introduced to Kawhi, and under the rules, we can introduce our sponsors to our athletes. We just can’t be involved.

“We made an introduction, that was in early November.”

As part of cooperation with a probe by the US Department of Justice, Ballmer said, he found an e-mail making the Leonard-Aspiration introduction.

“It was early November,” Ballmer said.

“The introduction got made and then they were off to the races on, on their own. We weren’t involved.”

“I eventually learned that they had reached a deal. I have no idea what the deal was.”

Asked if he was surprised at the amount of the no-service job terms, Ballmer said, “I don’t know why they did what they did and I don’t know how different it is.