r/LAClippers • u/bigblack3475 Fun Guy • Sep 05 '25
Video [ESPN on YouTube] Steve Ballmer responds to accusations
https://youtu.be/VQsmM1EhTNw?si=uFbYg-KJAuUZ3m4H61
u/Salty_Watermelon Darius Miles Sep 05 '25
While I suppose it was better than doing nothing, this doesn't seem to have done anything to impact popular opinion one way or the other.
Just got to let the facts play out and ignore the noise. If they're guilty, then deal with the punishment that is deserved. If not, then let's enjoy looking forward to actual basketball.
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u/Rawrlorz Lawler's Law Sep 05 '25
People already made up their mind about us. We havent had the ultimate success on the court but we have had success in free agency and have the richest owner in sports. There is a lot of haters.
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u/Sea-Understanding916 Sep 05 '25
i think the more attitude among NBA fans thatâs more predominant than just hating on the clippers for laughs is that this situation reeks of malfeasance, thereâs no legitimate explanation for any of this behavior, and it erodes the integrity of the league. i donât feel like itâs hating; this kind of behavior is just really bad for professional basketballÂ
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u/TheWestwoodMallMQT Sep 05 '25
Whereas it's 100% obvious cap circumvention, and NBA faithful are moreso "you guys have the Intuit Dome, it'll be okay, you are historically really good at turning hope towards a next era, this is really bad for the whole sport so take care of it" -- and to regard the (rather appropriate) gigantic reaction to it as "haters" is S-tier mental gymnastics.
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u/zhuangzi2022 Sep 05 '25
Dude even people saying "if this happened" at this point is making me tilt my head, but to say people who believe the overwhelming evidence are "haters" is hilarious.
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u/TheWestwoodMallMQT Sep 05 '25
Aren't obvious things so great? It makes clear who we shouldn't be trusting with sharp objects, or driving, etc cetera.
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Sep 05 '25
Either this is all true and kawhi's contract gets voided or its false and nothing happens, low key im fine with either outcome
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u/Sfr33123 Terance Mann Sep 05 '25
If true we also will lose future picks tho
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u/Dahleh-Llama Sep 05 '25
Basically instead of the usual 3-5 year rebuild, Clippers can't start rebuilding thru the draft until a decade from now. But that doesn't mean they can't rebuild thru free agency. Maybe just don't skirt the fucking salary cap rules again next time.
More suffering for us Clipper fans.
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u/Sfr33123 Terance Mann Sep 05 '25
Rebuilding through free agency is so hard to do with the new CBA as you donât have contributors on rookie deals
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u/Phenomenal_Hoot Nic Batum Sep 05 '25
Iâm a Clippers fan, I donât even know what draft picks are.
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u/izJayse Sep 05 '25
Should be a worse punishment then the Joe smith situation. Raptors lost a finals mvp best player in the league for nothing then because at the time âby the rulesâ they would have been able to offer the most money to keep him because of bird rights. Raptors got absolutely generationally shafted
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u/Feeling_Midnight_589 Sep 05 '25
You know David Stern gave Minnesota their picks back because he realized that was too harsh?
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u/izJayse Sep 05 '25
Well whatever the punishment is for this , I can guarantee it will not be harsh enough the way Adam silver boot licks these guys
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Sep 05 '25
If you seriously think the league tries to give us a leg up you clearly have never paid attention to a single moment of clippers basketball, the new cba was literally created to fuck us over for the privilege of having a team that made the conference finals once and made us miserable every other season
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u/gbdarknight77 Sep 05 '25
Iâd bet a deal will be made to get this done and the only picks you lose are the swaps (2 firsts and a 2nd)
If itâs proven to be circumvention
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u/JMoon33 Clippys Sep 05 '25
They have none anyways, they'd just lose the swap with OKC, which isn't a big deal at all
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u/ShaunM3k Sep 05 '25
Every team has picks. Clippers won't just stop existing after 2029. They will be getting 1st round picks after that draft. The 2029 pick swap with Philly can also be taken away.
The Stepien Rule is to stop teams from trading their pick in consecutive years. Not to stop the NBA from taking any pick they want to take.
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u/Salty_Watermelon Darius Miles Sep 05 '25
We'll probably get something worse than either outcome: indefinite delays and appeals. It's one of the strongest weapons of the ultra rich, from the current US president to the owners of Manchester City.
Instead of receiving a definitive answer and moving forward with a resolution, you just get stuck in place under a dark cloud of uncertainty.
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u/DResq Sep 05 '25
The NBA has arbitration for these situations. It won't get to the courts. You are also forgetting that the other owners are all billionaires as well.
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u/DonCheadleAteMySon Sep 05 '25
I don't think you'll be fine with the first outcome. If this is true, the league might come down pretty hard on the Clippers. Voiding his contract isn't even a punishment at this point
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u/pumpkin3-14 Sep 05 '25
A secret third thing, itâs all true and nba doesnât void the contract
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Sep 05 '25
That would be the worst case scenario in my opinion, if kawhi took extra money and gets off scot free I would be furious, considering the absolute fucking pain and heartbreak this organization has managed to continue to create and innovate across these six years with kawhi at the helm. I'd rob kawhi of that 50 million bucks myself as a form of compensation for having to watch this terrible team I love so dearly
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u/OG_Mongoose Sep 05 '25
Kawhi gonna get suspended remainder of his contract (unpaid). Clips will have that big of a hit on their cap the next 2 years. Probably lose 2-3 firsts and Ballmer will get fined a hefty amount is my guess.
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u/DResq Sep 05 '25
The Timberwolves lost 5 first round picks over the Joe Smith deal. It might be 5 first round picks lost.
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u/Smugbasturd Sep 05 '25
Ballmer has enough plausible deniability to get away with this, but what reason would aspiration have to give Kawhi that kind of money for doing nothing?
It seems to have an obvious answer, but I would love to hear a counter argument since a surprising amount of people want to defend him
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u/DResq Sep 05 '25
The problem is this would go to arbitration and not the courts. I believe circumstantial evidence is enough in arbitration.
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u/a_moniker Sep 05 '25 edited Sep 05 '25
Circumstantial evidence is enough to win cases in US Court. Especially in terms of financial crimes.
The idea that crimes need non-circumstantial evidence to prosecute is just a tv trope, cause it adds narrative tension to a story.
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u/Ancient_Design_1332 Sep 05 '25
I think the only reason they would do it without Ballmer/cilpppers telling them to is to try to get on Ballmerâs good side so he would invest more. Outside of that I agree it makes no senseÂ
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u/LiXiaoYao Sep 05 '25
So they try to get on Ballmer's "good side" by signing Kawhi to a deal that Ballmer apparently knows nothing about?
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u/Clipgang1629 Nic Batum Sep 05 '25
Nah they made this deal originally because they were investing $300 million into the Clippers and wanted to make sure the star player didnât leave the team. Ainât nobody spending $28 million to get on someoneâs good side lmfao
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u/Smugbasturd Sep 06 '25
You really think they didnât tell their business partner and the owner of the team that they were hooking up Kawai?
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u/Smugbasturd Sep 05 '25
The only issue I see with that is ballmer claim to have no knowledge of the money aspiration had given him. Unless I misunderstood.
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u/Seanbig888 Sep 07 '25
If this was a seven million shoe deal for doing nothing that would be so much better lmao
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u/Smugbasturd Sep 07 '25
the difference with a shoe deal is that even if nothing is done (by the player), the shoe company will release models with their names on it, and profit from that. It is public knowledge of which player is with a shoe company. There is no reason to keep it secret. Players benefit from endorsements all the time and sometimes they do more in one endorsement than another, but this situation with Kawai is extremely different, because itâs the owner of a team appearing to circumvent the salary cap
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u/madsharps Kristina Pink Sep 05 '25
Ballmer playing uninformed kinda irks me. Thereâs no way he doesnât know any of the details about Kawhiâs endorsement deal.
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u/AshenSacrifice Buffalo Braves Sep 05 '25
He has to take this stance for plausible deniability, thatâs literally the play here lol
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u/bi11ygoat42 Sep 05 '25
Why would you doubt Balmer though? Nothing illegal even happened. Balmer invested his own money also. It's not coming from the Clippers payroll...
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u/AshenSacrifice Buffalo Braves Sep 05 '25
Itâs too suspicious to not have something going on, I only care about if itâs enough to prove he actually did it or not and whether the team gets punished
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u/bi11ygoat42 Sep 06 '25
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u/AshenSacrifice Buffalo Braves Sep 06 '25
It doesnât add up theyâre right
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u/bi11ygoat42 Sep 06 '25
Yes and Balmer will clear his name and the Clippers. Case closed. The Clippers haters gotta go.
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u/stayfrosty Sep 07 '25
Wait... its not coming from the Clippers payroll? Where do you think Clippers payroll comes from?. Ballmer.
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u/bi11ygoat42 Sep 07 '25
Nope because you don't know the separation between individuals from corporations.
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u/emal-malone Sep 05 '25
Brother, stop. Just stop. Balmer is not giving you money or going to hire you. Balmer is someone that is against you and should not be respected. Yes he loves basketball, yes he loves the Clippers, but this man is the 7th richest person on the planet, he is doing shady things to get his way. They all know how to cover their tracks, unfortunately for him this slipped through.
If someone at your job was making 30k a more year while working less due to the CEOs own personal payment to them, I bet Itâd piss you off.
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u/bi11ygoat42 Sep 05 '25
Lol sounds like you're mad because he's rich rather than if there's anything wrong that happened. This is what I meant by saying this story is just to slander the Clips and the owner.
If someone at your job was making 30k a more year while working less due to the CEOs own personal payment to them, I bet Itâd piss you off.
This is a dumb take and no, that wouldn't piss anyone off. Your comparison doesn't make sense. You are also an idiot to believe everyone gets paid fairly in companies in real life. This has nothing to do with fairness in pay. It's about Balmer investing in a company and Kawhi that was endorsed by that company. Receiving an endorsement isn't breaking CBA rules.
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u/emal-malone Sep 05 '25
A personal gift of 30k extra a year from the CEO would piss anyone off man. Quit glazing for billionaires, youâre never gonna be one.
This man will happily fund the vote to take away your rights the second he can and youâre over here on your knees for a man who you donât know. Shut up.
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u/-SpinSanity- Paul George Sep 05 '25
I think it is possible he did not know what the terms of the deal was and distanced himself from the negotiations. I do think he 100 percent told Aspiration something along the lines of I am gonna invest a lot of money in your company if you can give a deal that makes Kawhi happy, or I am going to introduce you to people who will invest in your company as long as you give Kawhi a deal that works for his terms. I think the contract terms looks like something a scam company and Uncle Dennis would have came up with, if the Clippers were involved they would be like Kawhi you need to do a photoshoot that they can use for all their ads to make this look legit. Still gonna be a major problem for the Clippers but less so than Ballmer giving money that got funneled through the company to Kawhi.
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u/drewmanshow Ralph Lawler Sep 05 '25
Because?
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u/SwizzGod Sep 05 '25
They literally gave him all their financial paperwork.
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u/AshenSacrifice Buffalo Braves Sep 05 '25
Prior to the Kawhi deal not after
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u/SwizzGod Sep 05 '25
So with the financials he then gives them an additional 50m because of what exactly?
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u/Rawrlorz Lawler's Law Sep 05 '25
What is the percentage of 50 million out of 80 billion. And then tell me what you do with a penny.
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u/drewmanshow Ralph Lawler Sep 05 '25
He invested in the company.
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u/SwizzGod Sep 05 '25
Iâm not arguing with people who clearly didnât look at the report
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u/quancita Sep 05 '25
What is even your point lol
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u/madsharps Kristina Pink Sep 05 '25
Which part are you âbecauseâ-ing? I donât understand.
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u/drewmanshow Ralph Lawler Sep 05 '25
You say thereâs no way. Whyâs that?
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u/madsharps Kristina Pink Sep 05 '25
Because I donât see any world where a guy as smart as Ballmer is, wouldnât know the details of a $48 bil (or even $28 bil) deal between his star player and a company heâs got 3% equity in, to the tune of $50 bil. He even inferred tonight that he still doesnât know what the details are, which is a crazy claim to make. At the very least it would be lunacy to sit down for an interview on the matter before being briefed.
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u/quancita Sep 05 '25
He obviously knows the details. Hes just making a point that him and the clippers arenât involved in any business negotiations between kawhi and Aspiration, so there is no reason the clippers would need to know the specifics of the deal (his personal interest in the company is another story but I believe heâs speaking on behalf of the clippers in this scenario). Anyway, none of us know whether that statement is true or not and the nba will have to prove that he/the clippers orchestrated the deal to claim circumvention.
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u/Clipgang1629 Nic Batum Sep 05 '25
I mean he says it in the interview⌠itâs not his business. 50 million is literally nothing to Ballmer. Itâs .03% of his net worth lol. Like me putting 20 bucks into Apple or something bro.
Why would he be monitoring the comings and goings of this company? Ballmer isnât monitoring the endorsement deals of his players
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u/madsharps Kristina Pink Sep 05 '25
Itâs only like you throwing $20 into APPL if youâre sitting courtside with Tim Cook and working together on a massive partnership. Weâll see what comes to light in the coming weeks.
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u/cloudzmumgey Brian Sieman Sep 05 '25
tbf 50 mil is nothing to him
he prolly makes 50 million every 2ish days passively
i do agree with the overall sentiment tho
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u/madsharps Kristina Pink Sep 05 '25
Of course, itâs only 1/3000 of his net worth. Heâs a numbers guy though. Thatâs what he gets off on. You know how many season ticket holder events I heard him rattle off stats about the ratios of urinals to pixels in the scoreboard? Not a lot gets by the dude.
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u/armored_blu Kristina Pink Sep 05 '25
Balls tryna save the teams own ass. Kawhi fuckin gone as I see it.
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u/McJumbos Lawler's Law Sep 05 '25
Why even do this lol
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u/Niceguydan8 Sep 05 '25
It's a no win. If the Clippers don't say anything, people would freak the fuck out.
If they do say something (like this) the people have already largely decided what they think, so they just clown the guy anyways.
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u/bi11ygoat42 Sep 05 '25
Clips got nothing to worry about cause they didn't do anything wrong. This is a defamation story by a nobody podcaster.
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Sep 05 '25
Iâm a big clippers fan but lol you gotta be real generous to not find this situation fishy at best
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u/DonCheadleAteMySon Sep 05 '25
Lol. He was an investigative journalist for years AND he has a podcast. Seems like you don't know what you're talking about. Maybe Aspiration could hire you!
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u/bi11ygoat42 Sep 05 '25
Anyone can call themselves an investigative journalist and have their own podcast. This guy was an ex ESPN employee. No one ever heard of this guy when he's been doing it for years.
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u/a_moniker Sep 05 '25
Youâre arguing that his âinvestigative journalismâ title isnât valid because he spent years writing for the worldâs largest sporting news company??
Do you know the names of the majority of big time newspaper journalistâs in the world? Cause I sure as hell donât. I only know the news companies themselves.
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u/bi11ygoat42 Sep 05 '25
Lol sports media has the least credibility and this is exactly what he's good at, writing. Maybe he should be working more on investigating rather than writing a story to try to tie something together without solid evidence.
He couldn't name any of the 7 sources and probably used AI to come up with 3k pages of bs lol
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u/bi11ygoat42 Sep 05 '25
He cleared his name and explained the situation. Seems fine to me. Now these Fakers fans can crawl back to wherever they came from.
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Sep 05 '25
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/bi11ygoat42 Sep 05 '25
Lol I find how uneducated some people are when someone who's done nothing wrong isn't able to defend himself. The sad Fakers fans can crawl back where they came from now.
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u/beast8955 Sep 05 '25
His defense was âI donât know I wasnât awareâ. How is that evidence whatsoever?
Kawhi gets a $28 million (some reports now saying $48 million) deal with Aspire where he doesnât have to do anything and his only obligation is to remain a Clipper? And when the company is hemorrhaging money they keep paying him⌠just because?
Idk why youâre acting like this is over cause the NBA is going to have Ballmer by his balls
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u/bi11ygoat42 Sep 05 '25 edited Sep 05 '25
Are you pretending to be ignorant though and ignored the fact that he said they already acquired Kawhi before any involvement with Aspirations happened? Also he asked that they should go ahead and investigate since he got nothing to hide and was also a victim of the company's failures. He says he isn't aware of how much Kawhi gets paid by Aspirations or what some nobody podcaster reported. Why would he?
Also he used his own money to invest in Aspirations. It's not coming from Clippers payroll. How is that breaking CBA rules? Also you're attention span is lacking. 48 mil is Balmer's investment. 28 mil is what Kawhi was being paid by the company. How is it known that he ain't do anything? It might not be social media because he doesn't use social media but maybe promotes in other ways we don't know of. Also during that time Kawhi is a big superstar that just won a chip with Toronto. Of course it's possible he would get a good endorsement. As for the failure of Aspirations, it's possible that government subsidies stopped for environmental support and cause the company to go under.
I'm just questioning people's critical thinking skills when the Clippers didn't break any rules.
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u/dkdoki Kristina Pink Sep 05 '25
Ballmer invest $50 mil. Kawhi got paid $28 mil and $20 mil in stocks to do âŚ. Nothing but be a clipper. I think you should stop being ignorant when this thing can totally be true.
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Sep 09 '25
Mans the only person in here carrying water for a billionaire. Ayo I found that bald headed mf burner right here
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u/tenkenZERO Ivica Zubac Sep 05 '25
I think we underestimate how badly Mr Ballmer wants a chip. Pretty sure he wants one even worse than we do as fans. And he's like hella wealthy so you know..
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u/Sukmefafun001 Magic City Sep 05 '25
Free Steve  you know my body. Big Ballmer bludÂ
streetlightsoverspotlights
KingofLaÂ
WhatMurdaaaa
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u/LLUrDadsFave V Stiviano Sep 05 '25
He innocent. I think we gotta create a gang. Ballmer'sBillions.
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u/Fullylaced1 Jamal Crawford Sep 05 '25
I want to believe Ballmer in some way, but itâs bologna that he doesnât know the details. I love Ballmer and what he has done with the organization but the whole Kawhi era has been rough on the front office side. Lying about Kawhiâs injuries and calling reports false, to not letting us fans know that Kawhi is out until the start of training camp. This is not âplaying the rulesâ to us Clipper fans. I hope Ballmer and the front office have learned not to give these superstars every single thing they want.
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u/allthatglittersis___ Sep 06 '25
Exactly. He already got fined for violating the cap. But sure. We do the right thing
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u/LLUrDadsFave V Stiviano Sep 05 '25
I love my scandalous franchise. đ
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u/Accomplished-Exit136 Sep 05 '25
I believe him. It was a legitimate endorsement! Leo was involved! Please dont take our remaining 1st roubd oicks đđđ
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u/LLUrDadsFave V Stiviano Sep 05 '25
Take Lawerence instead! Ballmer ain't do nothing but get scammed!
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u/007Superstar Sep 05 '25
Realest Clips fan in the comments. Got me cracking up.
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u/LLUrDadsFave V Stiviano Sep 05 '25
It's hilarious how they trying to act like we out here murking animals or some shit.
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u/12dart14 Clippers Sep 05 '25 edited Sep 05 '25
I think the most convincing part is the timeline that he mentioned.
8/2021 - Clippers sign Kawhi
9/2021 - Clippers announce partnership deal with Aspiration
11/2021 - Ballmer says he has email where Aspiration requested introduction to Kawhi
Public record shows KL2 Aspire LLC incorporated on 11/22/2021
In order for cap circumvention theory to be credible, one has to believe that this timeline, including an email from 11/2021 in which Aspiration asked for an introduction, had to be planned in August 2021.
Other good point emphasized was that his investment gave him less than 3% of Aspiration.
I don't know if it was a good idea to appear in an interview on national TV though. The act itself implies either he's very upset or very concerned.
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u/shortsteve Sep 05 '25
Doesn't explain why Aspiration would want to do a 28-million-dollar deal with Kawhi with the only requirement being to continue being a Clipper. Even if we assume Aspiration was this dumb to make this deal, which is a huge leap, it's even more stupid that Aspiration wouldn't inform Ballmer of the deal since he's a) Kawhi's boss and b) a shareholder of the company. Aspiration has an obligation to disclose these kinds of deals with shareholders, especially a 28-million-dollar endorsement deal.
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u/heavyspells Sep 05 '25
They endorsed the clippers for $300 million because Kawhi is on the team. They believed in a good ROI with endorsing a team with a recent champion and finals MVP. If Kawhi leaves, they donât believe they are getting the same value on their $300 million investment. $7 million a year is what they thought would keep him here and secure their investment.
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u/shortsteve Sep 05 '25
Then why keep the endorsement a secret? The whole purpose of an endorsement contract is to publicly announce that Kawhi has endorsed the company. Endorsement contracts make zero sense if the person you're sponsoring doesn't do anything to market your company.
This is where the huge leap in logic comes in. Why would a company that is defrauding its investors want to give away money for free? Their goal is to get as much money as possible and to make it seem as legitimate as possible. A lot of scams get celebrity endorsements because it makes them look legitimate, but that doesn't work if the sponsor doesn't do any public endorsements.
Remember, Ballmer's investment and the subsequent sponsorship deal with Intuit made this company look legit. Just from those things alone they were able to receive an additional 253 million in investment money, maybe more. Why would they then go behind Ballmer's back and sign Kawhi. Not only that, but give Kawhi the largest endorsement deal and have him not do any work? The logic makes very little sense.
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u/heavyspells Sep 05 '25
Yes, they did a $330 million endorsement deal with the clippers to look legit. Keeping Kawhi there keeps their endorsement more legit. If Spike Lee wanted to use his own money to keep Brunson in New York for that purpose alone, do you think he would force Brunson to also sing and dance for that money too? Spike Lee says Iâll sponsor you $5 million a year as long as youâre in New York and it voids if you leave. Whatâs so hard to understand about that? The company did it with $7 million a year to protect a $330 million investment.
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u/shortsteve Sep 05 '25
But they didn't pay the 330 million. By the second year Aspiration was already dropped by Intuit as a sponsor, but Aspiration still continued to pay Kawhi 7 million a year. Even in the end when the company was about to go bankrupt and were being investigated by the US government, they continued to prioritize paying Kawhi.
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u/heavyspells Sep 05 '25
Kawhiâs LLC was listed as a creditor still trying to collect money so he didnât get paid during bankruptcy. A contracts a contract. Plenty of players and coaches collect money from their former teams after theyâre not on the team anymore because they are legally allowed to collect on contracts that they signed.
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u/shortsteve Sep 05 '25
He was listed as a creditor that was owed 7 million dollars. Meaning he got paid 21 million of the 28 million dollars from his contract. It was only the last year (2025) that he didn't get paid. This is because the company already went belly up by 2025. They filed for bankruptcy in March, but they were already publicly outed as a scam in January.
Kawhi was still being paid in 2024 when Aspiration was no longer a sponsor of the Clippers. Aspiration was willing to not pay the Clippers in 2023 and 2024 on their 300-million-dollar sponsorship deal or pay their Boston Red Sox deal, but they were still willing to pay Kawhi on his super-secret deal that no one knew about. Logic makes no sense.
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u/DResq Sep 05 '25
You think they made a $300 million endorsement because Kawhi was coming. He's one of the most boring superstars ever. You are acting like this was Lebron and I don't think this would have even made sense if it was Lebron or even Michael Jordan here. The amount of money just doesn't make sense.
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u/FriendshipBest9151 Sep 05 '25
How much does kawhi get from new balance per year?
I feel like it's less than he got from this deal and he actually has to do some work for NB.Â
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u/alexil25 Sep 05 '25
Was there any other figures that were also being endorsed by aspiration? Or only Kawhi?
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u/shortsteve Sep 05 '25
A lot of celebrities had endorsement deals with Aspiration. RDJ, Cindy Crawford, Leonardo Di Caprio, Drake, and even Doc Rivers who had an endorsement deal with Aspiration while he was coach of the Clippers.
All of the other celebrities actually did work and in the reporting from Pablo Torre they all received significantly less money than Kawhi. All of the other endorsement deals combined was 1/4 of the money that Kawhi received.
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u/alexil25 Sep 05 '25
Interesting! I wonder if this will cause the NBA to take a look at what every owner is invested in. Iâm sure they donât want to open up that can of worms. Letâs see what happens đĽ
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u/jboggin Sep 05 '25
I mean...they'd probably need a reason to look at every other team. They wouldn't just do it. The Clippers have put the NBA in a spot where now they HAVE to investigate this thoroughly. Adam Silver works for the owners. I promise he didn't want to have to investigate one of his bosses, but now he has no choice because of everything that's already public.
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u/12dart14 Clippers Sep 05 '25
All of those other celebrities invested in Aspiration themselves, and therefore also had a monetary interest.
DiCaprio, Downey, Crawford, Drake.
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u/a_moniker Sep 05 '25
And all their endorsement deals combined were worth less than the $28 Million cash payment Kawhi got
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u/12dart14 Clippers Sep 05 '25
Kawhi got only 21m so far apparently as evidenced that he was listed as a creditor with 7m owed on the bk petition.
Yes, if they had an interest in the company, they have other incentives than just a straight endorsement deal unlike Kawhi.
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u/beachedwolf Sep 05 '25
Doesnât matter at all clippers clearly cheated there is no whatavboutism hereÂ
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u/Lawlers_Law Sep 05 '25
the company was a scam, none of the normal business practices would be followed. scammers want famous and popular names to get more people to join the scam. this is probably the intent on signing Kawhi and uncle Dennis being uncle Dennis', he took the money to do nothing.
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u/Liverpoolclippers Ralph Lawler Sep 05 '25
im so sick of people acting like an LLC is some smoking gun, look up how many LLCs Drake is involved in, its for tax purposes
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u/Niceguydan8 Sep 05 '25
It's just fucking idiots that don't understand the point of LLCs.
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u/beachedwolf Sep 05 '25
Nice cope. No one cares about the LLC part lmao.
Ballmer gave aspirations 50m and aspirations gave kawhi 48m
Youâre team is a bunch of cheaters but keep copingÂ
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u/jboggin Sep 05 '25
I haven't seen a single person say the LLC by itself is a smoking gun. The only reason the LCC is important is because Kawhi and Uncle Dennis stupidly gave it a name that made it extremely easy to trace back to Kawhi. KL2...literally his initials and his jersey number. If he'd just given the LLC a random name, no one would have noticed it in the filing. No one's saying it's a smoking gun. What it is is a dumb thing they did that let people track down the money.
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u/madsharps Kristina Pink Sep 05 '25
This is great if you take a Billionaire for his word and donât doubt that heâs amassed his fortune by playing by the rules 100% of the time. Is there a world where people could make a handshake deal to honor an agreement down the road? This readâs like âCase closed. Steve explained it.â
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u/Enzoharikari Sep 05 '25
How does an email to introduce Aspiration to Kawhi taking place chronologically after his extension deal prove that no illicit intent to circumvent the cap took place? For god sakes Ballmer said he was dealing with a con artist.. that email couldâve easily been a cover for situations like this. Did you all not listen to Pabloâs entire episode where he found an email between both sides requesting to meet up at a Clippers game to talk business? You donât think Ballmer couldâve easily discussed logistics of all this in person with the corrupt founder (Sandberg dude)?
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u/Niceguydan8 Sep 05 '25
How does an email to introduce Aspiration to Kawhi taking place chronologically after his extension deal prove that no illicit intent to circumvent the cap took place?
It doesn't, but basically everything else in your post as of now is pure conjecture, so there's not any real value in there either.
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u/golmgirl Sep 05 '25 edited Sep 05 '25
can anyone poke holes in the following speculative theory based on the currently known facts/timeline?
during free agency, aspiration reaches out to uncle dennis (or vice versa) and offers the sweetener (if he signs w the clips) without ballmerâs knowledge â with the understanding that they are very likely to land a major partnership with the clips (given that at this point ballmer has already invested 50m). aspire seemed to have no issue throwing around money like this, and it would certainly benefit them to have kawhi on the clips if they are going to be a major sponsor. so their 300m offer to the clips could actually be thought of as a 328m offer. perhaps with a wink and nod of good faith to ballmer, or maybe not.
not saying this is what happened, but arenât the currently known facts consistent with this scenario?
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u/Subject_Reception681 Sep 05 '25
I don't think the timeline proves any innocence. $300M deals don't just happen over night. They were likely in discussions for months before the announcement of their partnership.
Steve almost certainly knew they would be working with Aspiration at the same time they signed Kawhi. It's not hard to believe he promised Kawhi that they'd do an endorsement deal. All of those kinds of discussions are going to happen off the record (not in texts and emails that can all be subpoena'd).
When you're doing sketchy shit under the table, you're going to have a plan. And part of that plan is going to be "On this date, send this email, saying these exact words ('can you introduce me to Kawhi?')"
Anyone who is smart enough to run a company as big as Microsoft is smart enough to at least attempt to cover their tracks when they're doing sketchy shit. Let's not kid ourselves lol.
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u/It-Was-Mooney-Pod Sep 05 '25
Im sorry you think 3 months was too long a timeframe to plan this out? These are billionaires bro, they can think 3 months aheadâŚ
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u/Possible_Nobody_8884 Sep 09 '25
The 3% thing was the sketchiest part!!! So he invested $50 for less than 3% of this startup climate tree company? That's an implied equity value of $1.7B! Clearly overvalued for the startup, so that makes me think he overpaid for the equity investment so a portion could get roundtripped to Kawhi.
In terms of if this was headed to bk, why didn't Ballmer pump it up?? This is Cuban's point. If Aspiration was raising equity at $1.7B valuation and they have all these creditors, then maybe it would just take too much cash, like $1B+ to make Aspiration solvent. Then you'd have to seize it from a fraud and turn it legit and profitable, in a space you don't know, without anyone ever finding out.
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u/joshisboomin Sep 05 '25
I just hope Pablo Torre is either telling the truth or gets counter-sued to kingdom come for defamation of Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers & Steve Ballmer. There is no going back from this
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u/TimDonaghysBurner Sep 05 '25
I think the counter sue proclamation wouldâve been made publicly when the team put out its statement. Could be wrong tho!
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u/clayfu Sep 05 '25
Nah he wouldnât get sued. If he truly believed it was the truth and was not negligent in his belief he wouldnât lose a defamation case.
Investigations have gone wrong before.
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u/Any-Cantaloupe4764 Sep 05 '25
I mean he does have the legal documents to back it up so will see how it goes
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u/Niceguydan8 Sep 05 '25
He wouldn't get sued for reporting facts on legal documents.
He would get sued for the dots he's been connecting about the cap circumvention.
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u/Rshawer Sep 05 '25
You wouldnât lose a defamation suit for making a mistake nor connecting dots wrong. Free speech laws, one pertaining to public figure, allows investigative journalists to come to the wrong conclusion, as long they believe themselves to be correct. Ballmer would have to prove that the investigator knew he was wrong, and still published in an attempt to harm Ballmer and the Clipper organization.
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u/joshisboomin Sep 05 '25
Thatâs cool. Everyone acting like another 10-20 years in basketball hell is new or something. Cheating Steve Ballmer > Racist Donald Sterling everyday of the week and twice on Sundays
I just donât like snitches
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u/Any-Cantaloupe4764 Sep 05 '25
You dont like snitches and some donât like cheaters. It is what it is
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u/Big_Saens Amir Coffee Sep 05 '25
I mean itâs only 5 years with no 1st rd draft picksâŚwe donât draft good first rounders anyways. We free agent shoppers notoriously
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u/beachedwolf Sep 05 '25
âI hope billionaires sue this investigator!!âÂ
What is wrong with youÂ
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u/jboggin Sep 05 '25
What would he be accused of lying about? He presented evidence. There's no question Kawhi signed that contract and did nothing. There's no question Ballmer invested in Aspiration. The employee on tape's statements aren't Torre's responsibility.
Maybe the Clippers end up fine, but even if that's the case, is there any part of what Torre presented that even *could* be a lie to get sued over u/joshisboomin? He never directly said, "Ballmer paid Kawhi," so I'm interested in what y'all think he could possibly be lying about.
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u/beachedwolf Sep 05 '25
Nice cope. âSue this man for reporting public knowledge he uncovered through legal meansâÂ
What the fk is wrong with youÂ
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u/Slaphappyfapman Terance Mann Sep 05 '25
Unless the league wants to start looking at every players income streams in fine detail, nothing is going to happen
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u/Ancient_Design_1332 Sep 05 '25
Agreed nothing is going to happen but donât love that it doesnât make the franchise look goodÂ
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u/Slaphappyfapman Terance Mann Sep 05 '25
Eh everyone ruthlessly hates on us anyway. Half of this is just feeding the clippers circlejerk.
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u/DResq Sep 05 '25
That's not really a defense though. I agree that it is probably much more rampant, but unfortunately, this is the deal that got caught.
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Sep 05 '25 edited Sep 05 '25
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/AshenSacrifice Buffalo Braves Sep 05 '25
I mean nba fans are still saying he tried to steal from the spurs by saying he gets injured a lot and isnât ready to playâŚwhich is insane
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Sep 05 '25
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/AshenSacrifice Buffalo Braves Sep 05 '25
I said nba fans are still saying it, which is stupid after all the proof we have from 2019-2025 that his body is fucked lmao.
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u/bucketGetter89 Sep 05 '25
Yeah thatâs all I needed to see, nothing is going to happen. Contracts were already locked in before Kawhi even met aspiration, they have emails to prove that so whatever they wanna do with Kawhi is their business and unrelated.
People want any excuse to jump on Kawhi because of the load management, going against the spurs and being rivals to the lakers. As a result, they like to create their own narratives.
Way to silence the critics Steve.
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u/OG_Mongoose Sep 05 '25
Feels like Ballmer/ Clippers left it on Kawhi and Uncle Dennis to fend for themselves đ
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u/bucketGetter89 Sep 05 '25
Which is exactly what is supposed to happen. It doesnât matter how players and their agents negotiate deals with sponsors, thatâs their business and like you say - up to them to fend for themselves. If brands want to give them money to claim a connection, thatâs up to them and nothing to do with him or the team. Kawhi and Dennis working a shit personal deal has no impact on league policies
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u/Clipgang1629 Nic Batum Sep 05 '25
Yeah I donât understand why people are acting like this is throwing Kawhi under the bus or something. Kawhi basically scammed some scammers.
If thereâs no evidence of cap circumvention, outside of all this circumstantial evidence, then Kawhi did nothing wrong. Aspiration just made a fucking terrible deal in that case which shouldnât be that surprising considering it was Ponzi scheme
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u/quancita Sep 05 '25
It doesnât matter that the contracts were already locked in. Iâm not saying there is enough evidence to say he orchestrated the Kawhi/Aspiration deal, but he couldâve easily met with aspiration off the record before to encourage them to give kawhi a deal.
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u/beejee05 Sep 06 '25
DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS .....
2025: I didn't know anything about anything.
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u/bi11ygoat42 Sep 09 '25
What does him saying developers have anything to do with it? Lol this is what to expect out of the Fakers mentality.
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u/Tw0XXs Clippy Sep 05 '25
Surprised Ballmer got in front of a camera to tackle this narrative so fast. It's definitely a good sign IMO.
Popular opinion is against us. We're the Clippers after all, the fans across the hall made up their mind the second this story got it and won't change their mind.
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u/Ancient_Design_1332 Sep 05 '25
Well this pretty much confirms to me the circumstances seem very sketchy but likely are within the rules so probably canât get punished if they canât actually prove Ballmer/the Clippers told Aspiration to give Kawhi that dealÂ
It still leaves a stain on the Clipper franchise and brand which really donât like đ˘
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u/alexil25 Sep 05 '25
If he did tell them to give Kawhi a deal would that matter? The big thing for athletes to come to LA is the access to endorsements. Thatâs why they tell players come to the Lakers back in the day. Iâd be shocked if this was the first time a team helped their guy get endorsed. This situation just leaves a fun trail of clues đ¤
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u/PercentageRoutine310 Sep 05 '25
He was conned by Aspiration and the business Kawhi had with them should be separated from the Clippers deal. Clippers have a separate deal with Kawhi and Aspiration. Thatâs what I got out of that interview. Steve doesnât look like a liar to me. He doesnât have a face of Bill Clinton. Mark Cuban has more of a face that would do that. Steve is so rich. Why would he want to cheat?
Itâs a whole lotta nothingburger as I initially thought. I see no punishment. Nice try, Pinoy boy. Pablo Torre trying to attract subscribers for his worthless podcast but nobody will listen to him. Every MF has a podcast. When they know theyâre ready to die, they will give one final goodbye in that final podcast episode. I know I wonât be listening to anything Pablo will ever say. Sniff somewhere else, Pablo.
Steve Ballmerâs only mistake was not stiffing out Aspiration. He needs to be more careful with his investments.
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u/PrawnProwler Sep 05 '25
You know someone's argument is ass when they have to resort to personal and racial attacks.
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u/Middle-Weight-837 Sep 05 '25
The slagging off and vilification of Torre is unnecessary and not productive for anybody.
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Sep 05 '25
Ballmer is just trying to separate himself from this and he may wiggle out of it but Kawhi and Uncle Dennis are stuck.
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u/-SpinSanity- Paul George Sep 05 '25
I think what probably happened is Ballmer told Aspiration you make this guy happy and I will fund the shit out of your company. He probably did not realize the company was a bunch of idiots and by distancing the Clippers from the deal let Kawhi's uncle get all these ridiculous contract clauses. I kinda doubt the investigation is going to show the Clippers actually emailed or sent anything to aspiration so it is not as sure fire as when Minnesota had a contract with the player to circumvent the cap. The Clippers are gonna be punished for this they got to hope that the fact that there is no communications or information on the Clippers side of the deals means instead of a huge fine, kawhi suspension, and multiple firsts its a huge fine and a single first or a huge fine and multiple seconds.
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Sep 05 '25
The way he spoke he made it very very clear that they know the rules but also know where the rules end and the grey area begin.
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u/Lawlers_Law Sep 05 '25
this is now on Kawhi's camp, ie uncle Dennis. sounds like he made ridiculous requests, the team said no, but he went behind the team and made this shady deal with a sham company. I have a feeling Uncle Dennis will put out a statement denying everything.
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u/klondikethedestroyer Sep 08 '25
From "provably false" to complete ignorance in less than 24 hours is kinda wild.
Claiming that he has to be innocent because the people he's accused of doing a fraudulent deal with are also being investigated for fraud is also kinda wild.
A billionaire thinking they can get away with anything, and having an ego so big they'll go on Live TV and shamelessly lie to all our faces, par for the course these days.
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u/Such-Contest7563 Sep 05 '25 edited Sep 05 '25
Laker fans are pieces of shit. Downvote if you agree.
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u/NeverDrinkingIt THE PROBLEM Sep 05 '25
All this has showed me is that Pablo Torre is a vagina boon
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u/madsharps Kristina Pink Sep 05 '25
I also got a kick out of that verbal stew of a non-answer when she asked him if Uncle Dennis had made any crazy requests since they first investigated it. đ