Multiple sources reportedly told ESPN’s Bobby Marks and Baxter Holmes that the NBA “reviewed and approved a $300 million sponsorship deal in 2021 between the Los Angeles Clippers and Aspiration, months after the green-banking company signed a separate deal with star Kawhi Leonard that sparked an investigation into the league’s salary cap circumvention.”
Aspiration Deal includes jersey patches
When news of Leonard’s sponsorship deal was first reported, NBA commissioner Adam Silver first said he had “never heard of Aspiration before,” though he later said he “is aware of the brand.”
The Clippers submitted the Aspiration agreement for review because it includes jersey patches, one of the sponsorship programs that requires additional review by the NBA.
“Teams review their sponsorship partners and negotiate their own sponsorship agreements,” league spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN in a statement.
“Given the extent to which jersey patches are included on player jerseys and their exposure on game television broadcasts, the league reviews and approves jersey patch arrangements in accordance with league rules and is designed to avoid potential branding issues or conflicts with league partners.”
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invests $50 million in Aspiration
The Clippers are under investigation by the league for possible salary cap circumvention after owner Steve Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration in September 2021, The Athletic’s Pablo Torre first reported.
In April 2022, the company reportedly offered Leonard a four-year absentee sponsorship deal worth $28 million. A former employee of now-bankrupt Aspiration told Torre that Leonard’s trade was an effort to get around the salary cap.
Ballmer, in a separate interview, denied involvement in the Aspiration-Leonard deal and said he was deceived by the company.
“These people committed fraud,” he said. “Look, they cheated me. They cheated me. I invested in these people thinking it was profitable and they cheated me at this stage.”
In August, Aspiration co-founder Joe Sanberg pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. According to ESPN, federal prosecutors said Thornberg “defrauded investors and lenders of $248 million by fraudulently obtaining loans, falsifying bank and brokerage statements, and concealing that she was the source of a portion of the company’s revenue.”
The NBA must find evidence of wrongdoing before it can levy penalties
The NBA has hired the law firm Wachtell Lipton, Rosen & Katz to investigate whether the Clippers circumvented salary cap rules. League executives want Silver to report him to Los Angeles to prevent other teams from committing similar crimes in the future.
However, Silver made it clear last month that the league must find evidence of any wrongdoing before it can discipline or impose severe penalties on the Clippers.
“If we’re going to discipline a team, an owner, a player or any constituent member of the league, the burden is on the league,” Silver told reporters after the league’s Board of Governors meeting in mid-September in Midtown Manhattan.
“I think, as with any process that requires a basic sense of fairness, essentially the burden should be on the party making these allegations.”
According to Marks and Holmes, sources familiar with the investigation process told ESPN that the investigation could take months, meaning the league is not expected to release its findings until after the 2026 NBA playoffs.
