Los Angeles Clippers minority owner Dennis J. Wong invested almost $2 million into Aspiration, a former team sponsor, nine days before Aspiration wired $1.75 million to Kawhi Leonard’s KLC Aspire LLC on Dec. 15, 2022, according to documents obtained by Pablo Torre. A former Aspiration employee also told Torre that 20% of Aspiration’s staff was laid off on the same day that Leonard received his payment.
That $1.75 million payment to Leonard was a late installment of the $28 million “no-show” endorsement deal that he was owed so long as he played for the Clippers. Leonard also reportedly had a side deal with Aspiration worth $20 million, bringing the total amount owed to Leonard to $48 million — just shy of the $50 million that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested in Aspiration.
One former Aspiration employee in the finance department said on Torre’s podcast, “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” that the deal “was to circumvent the salary cap, lol.”
“The details of our relationship with Aspiration are under NBA investigation, but it is clear the company was a house of cards that defrauded Steve and many others,” the Clippers said in a statement provided to Torre when asked about Wong’s investment. “We look forward to sharing the facts with the league and providing them with all the information they need.”
Leonard, who has been with the Clippers since 2019, signed a three-year contract extension worth $150 million in 2024.
