Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard at a 2019 press conference. The money trail of Leonard’s connection to the Clippers has sparked an NBA investigation.
Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard at a 2019 press conference. The money trail of Leonard’s connection to the Clippers has sparked an NBA investigation.
Bruce Arthur is a columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: .
Steve Ballmer paid a billionaire鈥檚 ransom for the Los Angeles Clippers, paid for his own stadium and deeply cares about his basketball team, and that鈥檚 what we want from sports owners, isn鈥檛 it? The Clippers were always a queasy sort of joke and then came Ballmer, standing astride a league of lesser billionaires. He鈥檚 what every team鈥檚 fan base should want, and what every owner should want to be.
But as often happens Ballmer鈥檚 strengths have become weaknesses, and he is now the NBA鈥檚 biggest problem. He is the human fork in the road for the league, for the other owners and for commissioner Adam Silver himself. Silver keeps saying that this is about the integrity of the league. But it鈥檚 about the commissioner鈥檚 integrity, too.
Because if Silver can鈥檛 deliver a hammer-of-god punishment in this case it鈥檚 possible he never will, and unintended consequences will bloom. The evidence the Clippers circumvented the NBA salary cap with Kawhi Leonard is piling up like so many Microsoft dividend cheques in Ballmer鈥檚 bank account. that shows Ballmer or Clippers-associated figures poured money into the company that secretly paid Leonard for an explicitly no-show job and gave him shares in the company, a carbon credits fintech scheme called Aspiration: Ballmer and friends pushed through $50 million (U.S.) here, $3 million there, $32 million in a pants pocket, $21 million on the counter, $2 million under a pillow and $10 million in the car鈥檚 cupholder, or thereabouts.聽聽
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All that was invested over 18 months starting in 2021, the year Leonard signed a second contract with the Clippers, while Aspiration was secretly paying Kawhi. Some of that came from Ballmer; some from one of his best friends and Clippers vice-chair Dennis Wong; some from the Clippers chief financial officer on team letterhead.
And were Aspiration a normal company, you could defend the world鈥檚 seventh- or eighth-richest man splashing some money into an investment, and even directing his friends and company to do the same, perhaps as part of a sponsorship agreement. That鈥檚 business.
But the carbon credits company in question, Aspiration, was burning so much money that they could barely keep the lights on. And as Aspiration floundered in a way that was clear to every other potential investor on the planet, Ballmer not only shovelled cash into the furnace but, as time went on, he paid a premium 鈥 $23 per share rather than the $11 he paid earlier in the process. In business terms, I believe they call this Fishier Than a Fish Pie.
There are only two potential explanations at this point. One, Steve Ballmer is so dumb he threw money down a hole even after it became clear it would be wasted, for no good reason. And in fairness, the initial investment under his own name after introducing Leonard to Aspiration鈥檚 leaders was reckless at best.聽
Subscribing to that scenario requires a childlike sense of wonder, or a defence attorney鈥檚 sense of technicalities. Still, the volume of money and the timing speak to both Ballmer’s outsized wealth and to something other than an ordinary investment.
The scenario supported by the preponderance of evidence is simple. When pursuing Leonard as a franchise-changing free agent in 2019, the Clippers agreed to pay Leonard above and beyond his salary in ways that violated the cap. Those demands, which Leonard鈥檚 uncle Dennis Robertson conveyed to the Raptors during their negotiations, included a no-show job and stakes in outside companies, which he received in L.A.
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Again, in 2019, Uncle Dennis asked the Raptors for an ownership stake in the Maple Leafs and an extra $10 million per year above the salary cap, and the Raptors weren鈥檛 willing to match either provision. They weren’t willing to match the future-torching price of a Paul George trade, either. During negotiations, Leonard and Uncle Dennis acknowledged that the Raptors were a superior basketball situation, but that wasn鈥檛 enough.
Now, you can still believe Ballmer鈥檚 protestations about being scammed. If Aspiration doesn鈥檛 collapse into bankruptcy and federal charges, the proof of this deal never comes to light and Ballmer evades the NBA鈥檚 salary cap with his enormous, league-warping wealth. If he had invested in a healthier company than Aspiration, they all get away with it.
No, this is a case where Silver either needs to retreat into an impotent space requiring conclusive, written proof of an agreement 鈥 which is not the standard set by the league鈥檚 collective agreement 鈥 or he needs to be the damned commissioner of the NBA. Steve Ballmer may be the most important owner in the NBA, but if Silver doesn鈥檛 punish him in a way that echoes through the league and down through the ages, he鈥檚 opening a door to more than just a failure of integrity. He鈥檚 opening the door to a blueprint, and a way to undermine the league. And more owners can walk on through.
Opinion articles are based on the author鈥檚 interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details
Bruce Arthur is a columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter:
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