This story is something else!
Kawhi Leonard, one of the NBA's best players, signed a deal with the LA Clippers back in 2022 -- a four-year, $176 million contract extension (the maximum allowed at that time under the NBA's collective bargaining agreement).
Apparently -- and this is just what's being reported by podcaster and ESPN contributor Pablo Torre -- they actually paid Kawhi much more, but they had to skirt the salary cap in order to do so. So they got him an endorsement deal with Aspiration, a now-bankrupt tree-planting company owned by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.
What's more, it seems Kawhi never actually did any work for the company.
Here's Pablo Torre:
He later appeared on Dan Patrick's show:
ESPN has the story:
Torre cited a trove of internal documents from the tree-planting company Aspiration, which Ballmer partially funded with a $50 million investment through his personal LLC in Sept. 14 2021.
Later that month, on Sept. 27, 2021, the Clippers announced a $300 million partnership with the now-bankrupt Aspiration, including sponsorship in the team's new arena and on the team's jersey patch.
According to Torre, Leonard agreed to a four-year, $28 million endorsement deal in April 2022 through his LLC, KL2 Aspire. The endorsement deal came nine months after Leonard signed a four-year, $176.3 million contract to remain with the Clippers -- the maximum allowed at the time under the NBA's collective bargaining agreement.
A clause in one of the documents purportedly obtained by Torre states that the deal between Aspiration and KL2 Aspire would be voided if Leonard left the Clippers. According to Torre, Leonard also could 'decline to proceed with any action desired' by Aspiration and continue to get paid.
And the kicker?
An unnamed employee who purportedly worked for Aspiration told Torre that the payment to Leonard 'was to circumvent the salary cap.'
Corruption in sports?
Never would've guessed...
Gotta leave these here:
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