(09-10-2025, 09:52 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: Considering he asked the Raptors in 2019 for several things that were very similar to this Aspiration deal such as asking for up to 15 million match in sponsorship deals and ownership stake in the Toronto Maple Leafs, that already establishes a pattern of behavior with Leonard asking for more than he can/should in FA. 

But I don't think the NBA needs this as a smoking gun or even a pattern of behavior. This just LOOKS bad. The optics alone are enough to call into question the entirety of the NBA. If there is no steep punishment, why wouldn't other teams do something very similar to circumvent the cap? Why have a cap at all? 

Alone, Kawhi and the Clippers have created a situation that pokes holes into the very foundation of the cap and the respect of the rules. And that assumes that we are buying this story that this shell corporation actually duped Steve Balmer by the tune of 50 million, and in that very same month gave Kawhi a 20 mil advance for signing and a 28 mil bogus promotional deal. 

It's ridiculous. I know we throw around hyperbole all the time but Silver is by far and away the worst commissioner of the 4 major sports in America. Since he's come in, the NBA has gotten harder to watch, more expensive to attend, ads on jerseys, and so many scandals that have gotten off easy. If Silver overlooks this it'd be yet another referendum of how he truly doesn't understand how to run the NBA.

(09-11-2025, 01:51 AM)F Gump Wrote: ONE GENERAL REPLY. My comment that a "smoking gun" could come by finding another example of something like this occurring with Kawhi/LAC (either before or after Aspiration with another sponsor) and/or with LAC/other player is not saying that's the only way to prove malfeasance here. Nor is it saying that another instance is necessary to prove this one. Sheesh, c'mon, think. 

There can be many different ways to validate the claims.

I'm just suggesting one place to look that to me seems like worth exploring -- and consider, if Kawhi was chasing such an illegal deal when he was a FA in 2019, how come he only got that deal in 2023 after his next contract with LAC? It sure seems like there could be at least one other of these that happened, waiting to be discovered. And if it happened with Kawhi, how about Paul George, or James Harden, or others who seemed to inexplicably sign team-favorable deals over the years (Batum for example)? Again, that additional instance with a different team sponsor would destroy the ability for LAC to claim this was all Aspiration's doing.

SOME SPECIFIC NOTES.
"...if a player's contract is voided for this scenario, does it still count against the cap?" --- I didn't see any particular mention of that issue in the CBA, but it would seem the answer would be "no," since the cap governs allowable player payroll by a team, and the contract is no longer being paid.

"it seems like a scenario could exist where it actually helps a team to void a max contract of an aging player that may or may not be worth it at the cost of 1 FRP and a 4.5M fine." -- I suspect that it would be difficult to find that "aging player" who wants his bloated contract to be voided.

"This just LOOKS bad. The optics alone are enough to call into question the entirety of the NBA." -- That's not how it works. Bad optics, by themselves, are not punishable. Never have been, never will be. Bad ACTIONS, on the other hand, are. These are rich people making rules on themselves, and they don't want to be screwed by their partners, but they also don't want to live under that level of scrutiny where suspicion (rather than proof) is all that's necessary. The NBA will have to prove that the Clippers were the ones making all this weirdness happen. 

As for whether this accusation somehow negates the NBA, that's LOL stuff imo. 

"that assumes that we are buying this story that this shell corporation actually duped Steve Balmer by the tune of 50 million, and in that very same month gave Kawhi a 20 mil advance for signing and a 28 mil bogus promotional deal." --- The Clipps stance is that the deals with Aspiration were not in that time frame at all, and happened independently without LA being involved, and that Ballmer/LAC were very arms length from whatever Aspiration was doing.

Are we sure all those acts happened together (the new Kawhk deal being signed, Ballmer sends money to Aspiration, Aspiration signs Kawhi to a weird deal)? I'm not. The question primarily isn't whether Kawhi got stupid money, but whether LA themselves orchestrated it (with Aspiration merely being a conduit), and suspicion isn't proof. One helpful avenue in proving what happened would be if anyone from Aspiration is willing to actually testify under oath or not -- the investigative reporting's (supposed) insider info was all anonymous unnamed sources afaik. 

"This isn't about rich people spending their money on whatever they want.  It's circumventing the salary cap." -- That's a circular argument, so it fails. Yes Aspiration spent money stupidly, but that doesn't prove it was an NBA-cap-related transaction. They aren't an NBA team. People can do stupid things with their money. What must be proven is the next step - "why" did they do so. Gotta prove it.

"Kawhi didn't endorse the company.  That's the point.  He did nothing." -- That merely says Aspiration spent money stupidly. Again, it doesn't say why they did so, and the "why" is what must be proven. The CBA itself is fairly clear that deals between players and team sponsors are not illegal and their existence is not proof of anything.

"So you want owners to be able to pay free agents whatever they want to pay?" -- I said no such thing. Personally I prefer a level playing field financially -- while at the same time recognizing I own no team, and the 30 NBA owners can do it however they please, so my preferences (and yours) really mean squat. 

I'm not trying to whitewash Ballmer/LAC. If he's playing fast and loose with the rules, throw the book at him. But the NBA will have to prove it first, and a story with attention-getting claims is not proof.

(09-11-2025, 12:42 PM)Ghost of Podkolzin Wrote:   The "smoking gun" is facts of THIS allegation.

(09-11-2025, 03:36 PM)F Gump Wrote: ... and imo the NBA may have a challenge getting actual proof that LAC/Ballmer controlled and orchestrated Aspiration's payments in this situation (as defined by the CBA) ... whether LAC or Aspiration was the one who had control was the  apparent dividing line

(09-12-2025, 01:14 PM)Chicagojk Wrote: Cuban really pushing the "smartest guy in the room" thing hard.   He and Pablo are going back and forth.  Supposedly Cuban has this all figured out.  LOL

(09-13-2025, 09:19 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: NBA Retweet (@RTNBA)
Steve Ballmer reportedly invested an additional $10 million in Aspiration in March 2023, during a period where the company was “bleeding cash, laying off employees, & struggling to raise funds”

per @MikeVorkunov

(09-13-2025, 09:22 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: @Fullcourtpass
In 2022 Kawhi Leonard played in 26% of games due to “right knee stiffness” before the reported $1.75M delayed payment was made by Aspiration

The day after it was deposited, Leonard went on to play 82% of the Clippers total games to close out the season

(09-13-2025, 09:52 AM)KillerLeft Wrote: This is crazy, and starting to feel mildly depressing to me. I'm not naive - at least I don't feel like I am - but this type of thing reveals a pit of cynicism that might eventually suck the fun out of the league for me. 

I really hope an example is made of LAC and Kawhi, even if it's only just to maintain the appearance of some type of fair, rule-based structure.

(09-13-2025, 09:19 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: NBA Retweet (@RTNBA)
Steve Ballmer reportedly invested an additional $10 million in Aspiration in March 2023, during a period where the company was “bleeding cash, laying off employees, & struggling to raise funds”

per @MikeVorkunov