Clippers owner Ballmer welcomes NBA probe, tells ESPN he wasn't involved in Leonard endorsement deal

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer said in an interview with ESPN that he welcomes the NBA's investigation into an alleged circumvention of league salary cap rules, denying any involvement in a $28 million endorsement contract between Kawhi Leonard and a California-based sustainability services company.

Ballmer said he'd want the NBA to probe another club if it were accused of the same violation.

“Salary cap circumvention rules are important to the league, and I’d want the league to investigate,” Ballmer told ESPN on Thursday.

Ballmer also said in the interview that he introduced the six-time All-Star Leonard to the the now-bankrupt green banking business, Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC, that Ballmer once invested $50 million in. Ballmer said he's been reviewing his interaction with Aspiration as part of his and the Clippers' cooperation with a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the company. Co-founder Joseph Sanberg agreed to plead guilty last month after facing federal charges of wire fraud, and prosecutors said he defrauded investors and lenders out of more than $248 million.

The Clippers strongly denied any rules were broken in a statement issued on Wednesday after the NBA announced its investigation following a report by journalist Pablo Torre that alleged the violation.

The Clippers announced a $300 million partnership with Aspiration in 2021, about a month after Leonard signed a four-year, $176 million extension. The team ended that relationship after two years because the contract was in default.

The league — which previously looked into claims that Leonard’s representatives asked for certain perks that would be considered cap circumventions when he was a free agent several years ago — can issue stiff penalties if cap rules are found to have been broken by a team. That could include a fine of up to $7.5 million, the voiding of contracts and the forfeiture of future draft picks.

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