色色啦

Why would the one-time聽Raptors聽superstar secretly receive shares in the company, a since-bankrupt climate finance firm called Aspiration, worth a reported $20 million?

And why would all this happen after Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested $50 million in the company? On the surface, it looks like a relatively clear case of the聽most significant salary cap circumvention聽in NBA history. What else could it be?

So far, the Clippers have tried various lines of defence: They called the allegations “provably false” before that language vanished in later statements; Ballmer聽went on ESPN聽to deny he or his team violated the league鈥檚 salary cap; Ballmer explained his investment by saying he had been scammed, and disputed he had any influence over Aspiration.

The most likely explanation is the simplest: This is exactly what it looks like. As聽聽by respected investigative podcaster聽, Aspiration in 2021 or 2022聽agreed to pay Leonard at least $28 million for what was explicitly, contractually, a no-show job. The Boston Sports Journal聽聽an additional $20 million was paid to Leonard in shares of the company, again for no discernible return; Torre confirmed the reporting. If directed by the Clippers, both would be clear and serious violations of the NBA鈥檚 salary cap.

鈥淚 want to say one thing very clearly: We, the Clippers, have abided by the salary cap circumvention rules because that’s the right thing to do,鈥� Ballmer said聽to ESPN鈥檚 Ramona Shelburne last week.

It’s possible this scandal dates to at least 2019.聽After the Raptors won the NBA title, Leonard became a free agent and chose between Los Angeles and 色色啦. The Raptors believed there was a real chance he would return instead of going to the Clippers despite the lure of Leonard’s home state of California. Leonard didn鈥檛 want to play with聽LeBron James, so the Lakers were a third wheel in the sweepstakes. Jimmy Butler, a preferred partner, was headed to Miami. And Leonard recognized that 色色啦 was the best basketball situation, all told.

So without聽a Paul George trade from Oklahoma City, Leonard was not going to L.A. And, of course, the Clippers were desperate enough to make a league-altering trade.聽

But multiple sources with knowledge of 色色啦鈥檚 contract negotiations with Leonard in 2019 told the Star that Leonard’s uncle and representative, Dennis Robertson, made demands that line up almost perfectly with what Leonard reportedly got from Aspiration. According to those sources,聽who were granted anonymity in order to speak freely about the negotiations,聽Robertson鈥檚 list was long and absurd. It included a trade for George, which featured an exorbitant price tag. It included a slice of ownership of the聽色色啦 Maple Leafs, which Robertson was told was impossible.

But two details stand out, in retrospect. One, Robertson asked for ownership stakes in outside companies: not just the Leafs, which he seemed to believe was separate, but with other companies with whom MLSE had a relationship. And, two, the Raptors were told they needed to match at least $10 million per year in extra sponsorship income. Teams are allowed to introduce players to team sponsors but they cannot negotiate deals, and MLSE was aware of that fact.

But it didn鈥檛 end there. As one source put it, when told about all the corporate sponsors in 色色啦 who would be happy to have Leonard as a pitchman, his camp said, 鈥淲e don’t want to do anything.鈥� Raptors representatives said any sponsor would want to shoot ads or arrange appearances; Robertson reiterated Leonard didn鈥檛 want to do anything for the money.

That鈥檚 when the Raptors realized Leonard wasn鈥檛 asking to be introduced to 色色啦鈥檚 lucrative corporate community; they were being asked to arrange no-show jobs, and arrange no-investment investments. MLSE rejected both proposals.

Neither Robertson nor Leonard’s agent, Mitch Frankel, responded to requests for comment.聽

Despite his degenerative quadriceps and knee issues, Leonard’s camp did not seem interested in the extra fifth year the Raptors could offer for a maximum of $190 million, and signed with the Clippers for three years and $103 million with a player option that set up a more lucrative extension. (Over the first five years post-2019, Leonard made $196 million from the Clippers.) And the combination of extra money and stock that Leonard asked for from 色色啦 is exactly what he reportedly received from Aspiration.

Then came the Aspiration deal Torre unearthed. Leonard signed a four-year contract extension with the Clippers in August 2021; Ballmer invested $50 million in the company in September 2021; the Clippers announced Aspiration as a major sponsor in September 2021; Leonard registered his LLC in November 2021; Aspiration agreed to pay Leonard $7 million per year over four years 鈥� far and above Aspiration celebrity endorsers like Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey Jr., or Drake, per Torre鈥檚 reporting 鈥� starting in April 2022, with a clause excusing Leonard from doing any work. And Aspiration gave Leonard shares in the company, which became worthless when the company declared bankruptcy.

Again, the Leonard deal with Aspiration was never announced to the public.

There have been minor cap contravention cases in the past. When Antonio Davis was a Raptor between 1999 and 2004, he was told his wife Kendra couldn鈥檛 work for Raptors TV because it might violate the cap. More and more, the Leonard scandal looks like a more serious case of cap circumvention than聽聽in 1998聽鈥� the player agreed to below-market deals with a written promise of a bigger contract once eligible under the CBA 鈥斅爓hich resulted in some of the most significant franchise penalties in NBA history.

Of course, there remains the question of proof: if a cap contravention deal is conducted outside the bounds of official team communications, how could the NBA even find a paper trail? But the聽聽says circumvention 鈥渕ay be proven by direct or circumstantial evidence, including, but not limited to, evidence that a player contract or any term or provision thereof cannot rationally be explained in the absence of (cap circumvention).鈥� Similarly, any contract by a team or team sponsor can be deemed a violation if the compensation 鈥渋s substantially in excess of the fair market value of any services to be rendered by the player.鈥�

In other words, the NBA should already be there. And given how much money was moving silently outside the salary cap, and how this deal started two years after the Raptors were asked for much the same impermissible benefits, you have to ask: If the Clippers did give Leonard everything he asked for in 2021, why wouldn鈥檛 they have done so in 2019?

The safe bet is more information will come out. In 2019, the Clippers won the Leonard sweepstakes, and everything that came with it: injuries, three playoff series wins in six seasons, and questions about how they do business. More than ever, it feels like they lost.