The Lakeshow Review

In a not-so-stunning turn of events, the Los Angeles Clippers did something very Clipper-like. They embroiled themselves in yet another controversy, proving yet again that they are, indeed, the Clippers. The Clips and owner Steve Ballmer, *allegedly* set up a phony company called Aspiration which would go on to count Clippers’ star Kawhi Leonard as its flagship endorser. Aspiration, now bankrupt, *allegedly* payed out a total of $28M to Leonard for a “no-show” endorsement gig. Leonard never publicly acknowledged his connection to Aspiration, despite receiving a substantial amount of money for (secretly?) endorsing their enterprise. This smells fishy, and very Clipper-esque. Not to mention, Steve Ballmer, the sixth richest man in the world, *allegedly* facilitated Kawhi Leonard’s “participation” with Aspiration by donating large sums of money to the now defunct company. This essentially circumvents the NBA salary cap, which is a very serious affront given how much the NBA values their CBA and its accompanying by-laws. This is a story that won’t go away until we get to the bottom of it, and it so eloquently encapsulates the Clippers and their ethos. All that glitters ain’t Gold.

The Los Angeles Lakers, of course, were briefly linked to Kawhi Leonard when they pursued his services during the summer of 2019. Kawhi eventually spurned the Purple & Gold, in favor of the cross-hall rivals Clippers. But amidst negotiations with the the Lakers, some interesting reports surfaced. Among those the notion that Kawhi and his team (led by his uncle Dennis Robertson) made outlandish demands to the Lakers in exchange of his services. A private plane, a house, team ownership stakes and most suspiciously, a guaranteed amount of endorsement money (perhaps to the tune of $28M?) were some of the reported indulgences demanded by Leonard and his camp. The Lakers, smartly, walked away from that whole fiasco, before Leonard eventually landed with the Clips. The Lakers also rebounded by assembling the pieces for what would later become a championship roster during the 2020 NBA season. In hindsight, LA did the right thing. The way Kawhi and his camp carried themselves during those negotiations doesn’t exactly reek of someone who is committed to proudly donning the logo. To the contrary, it speaks of someone who is in it for himself.

The Clippers of course, being the Clippers, *likely* welcomed Leonard and his demands, seeing as how a.) they’re the Clippers therefore they’re desperate and b.) the idea of sticking to big brother Lakers was too much to pass up. It’s very telling that there were reports of Leonard and his camp making these outrageous demands as early as back in 2019, during his big free agency summer. Now, almost six years later, these same reports are resurfacing, except now in greater detail. The company in question, Aspiration, was a company that helped clients ‘leave behind’ a carbon footprint by planting trees on their behalf. Apparently, they charged their clients one dollar for every tree planted in their name. Steve Ballmer caught wind of this company around late 2021, and decided to bring them aboard the ‘Clipper Family’ (move over Billy Crystal and Clipper Darrell). He then starts *allegedly* pouring in tens of millions of dollars into the company, in addition to agreeing to eventually anoint them as chief franchise sponsors, complete with a jersey patch and ads plastered all over the Intuit Dome. A few months later, Kawhi Leonard resigns with the Clippers for over $176M, hmmm. And a few months after that, Kawhi lands an endorsement deal with you guessed it, Aspiration. Hmm-hmmmmm. This was followed by Leonard creating an LLC by the name of “KL2Aspire”, which would be used for Kawhi to collect his “endorsement” money. If you stopped right there, that’s enough evidence for a guilty verdict, but in true Clipper fashion, it still gets worse.

Kawhi, *allegedly* earned more money than all of the other company’s celebrity ambassadors combined, and by a healthy margin, more than four times over. He was essentially “paid” $28M to do absolutely nothing. Moreover, Kawhi’s contract with Aspiration stated not a single demand for the superstar to fulfill, instead making a handful of “requests”. Among said requests were for Leonard to autograph a number of items, take a photo or video each month and provide five organic interactions (such as comments, likes or retweets). Of these requests, Leonard fulfilled a grand total of zero of them. As a cherry on top, the only way for the contract to be voided/terminated was if Kawhi no longer played with the Los Angeles Clippers. That’s a lot of red flags. Of course these are all still *allegations*. But if true, oh boy. We also know that the Lakers declined to grant any of Leonards demands during their negotiation process. Perhaps those demands included a phony company to funnel $28M of secret endorsement money under the table. By the way, Kawhi also never spoke publicly of Aspiration, or his involvement with them.

If these allegations are proven true, and the evidence certainly suggests so, then the NBA should throw the book at the Clippers and make an example of them. Years ago, when the Minnesota Timberwolves signed power-forward Joe Smith, by sliding extra money under the table. As a result, they were met with harsh consequences by then NBA commissioner David Stern. They were fined up the rear, and forced to forfeit over 5 draft picks. Current Commish Adam Silver ought to strap on his big boy pants and go to work. The NBA, reportedly, takes its CBA very seriously, and any violations thereof are usually persecuted to highest degree. Here, you have the Clippers, with owner and tech mogul Steve Ballmer, the sixth richest man on the planet, assuming they’re above the norms and traditions by flexing their financial muscle in ways that undermine the rulebook. This type of thing can’t fly. Fines, draft selections and voided contracts should all be in play. The Clippers need to be made an example of. Other organizations have been punished for much less. More importantly, the integrity of the game and of the NBA should be protected. Adam Silver shouldn’t fear Ballmer’s checkbook, because Ballmer will be filthy rich regardless. The NBA should come first in this regard, and in this new age of über-wealthy tech moguls buying sports franchises with their pocket cash, the league needs to stand firm by its rules so as to not undermine the integrity of the sport by allowing these ultra-wealthy magantes to think they can make a mockery of it. Because at the end of the day money can buy status, but not respect.

Anyways, Go Lakers.