Clippers Owner Steve Ballmer Defies NBA Probe: “I Welcome the Investigation” – What’s He Hiding?

Steve Ballmer, the fiery owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, isn’t exactly showing signs of stress amid the NBA’s investigation into whether he dolled out improper benefits to Kawhi Leonard during free agency. In fact, at the Sports Business Journal’s Drive event, Ballmer stepped up and openly welcomed the probe, maintaining a confident stance that he and the Clippers played by the rules. He insists the NBA will see the Clippers’ dealings with Aspiration — that company Ballmer invested in — and Leonard’s ties there as completely separate, claiming he’s been hoodwinked in the whole kerfuffle. Given the swirling reports and the NBA’s prior clean bill of health on Leonard’s free agency, Ballmer’s cool as a cucumber approach adds another twist in this saga that’s capturing everyone’s attention. Curious to dive deeper? LEARN MORE

If Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is nervous about the NBA looking into whether he gave Kawhi Leonard impermissible benefits during his free agency, Ballmer isn’t showing it. Ballmer said Tuesday he welcomes the NBA’s investigation into the situation.

Ballmer made those comments at the Sports Business Journal’s Drive event, where he was a featured speaker. When asked about the situation, Ballmer said he was defrauded and that the NBA will find that the Clippers’ relationship with Aspiration and Leonard’s relationship with Aspiration were “independent.”

Ballmer added that he’s “quite confident … that we abided the rules” and said he welcomes the NBA’s investigation because it will “get the facts out there.”

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Ballmer, the Clippers and Leonard are being investigated by the NBA after reports emerged suggesting a company in which Ballmer invested paid Leonard $28 million for “no-show jobs” allegedly as a way to circumvent the NBA’s salary cap.

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That company, Aspiration, reportedly treated Leonard’s payments as a critical priority, going so far as to pay Leonard $1.75 million despite the company being in rough financial shape. The company made that payment shortly after Clippers co-owner Dennis Wong invested $1.99 million in Aspiration.

Those connections were unearthed by journalist Pablo Torre. While Torre did not find direct evidence proving the Clippers and Ballmer used Aspiration as a way to pay Leonard to circumvent the salary cap, Torre connected enough dots to ignite the NBA’s investigation into the situation.

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Following those revelations, both Ballmer and the Clippers denied the allegations, saying Ballmer was defrauded by Aspiration and that the team and Ballmer had “no oversight” into Leonard’s independent endorsement agreement with Aspiration.

Ballmer reiterated those comments Tuesday, and implied the NBA would not find anything suspicious with its investigation. The league originally investigated Leonard’s free agency in 2019, after it was rumored his uncle, Dennis Robertson, asked teams for impermissible benefits as those teams courted Leonard. The league found no evidence the Clippers granted illegal benefits to Leonard at the time of that original investigation.

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NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke about the Leonard investigation Wednesday, saying the NBA would need strong evidence in order to issues punishments against Ballmer and the Clippers.

Ballmer’s comments Tuesday indicates he believes the league will find that the Clippers acted appropriately during and after Leonard’s free agency.