NBA Approved Sponsorship Deal Between Clippers, Aspiration

The NBA reportedly “vetted and approved a $300 million sponsorship deal between the Los Angeles Clippers and Aspiration in 2021, months before the green banking company signed a separate deal with star Kawhi Leonard that has triggered a salary cap-circumvention investigation by the league,” multiple sources told ESPN’s Bobby Marks and Baxter Holmes.

Aspiration Deal Included Jersey Patch

NBA commissioner Adam Silver had first said he “never heard of the company Aspiration before” when the news of Leonard’s sponsorship deal was first reported, though he later said he was “aware of the brand.”

The Clippers submitted the Aspiration deal for review because it included a jersey patch, which is among the sponsorships that requires additional vetting from the NBA.

“Teams vet their own sponsorship partners and negotiate their own sponsorship agreements,” league spokesperson Mike Bass told ESPN in a statement.

“Given the jersey patch’s inclusion on player jerseys and its level of exposure across game telecasts, the league reviews and approves jersey patch arrangements pursuant to league rules that are intended to avoid potential brand issues or conflicts with league partnerships.”

Clippers Owner Steve Ballmer Invested $50 Million In Aspiration

The Clippers are being investigated by the league for potentially circumventing the salary cap because team owner Steve Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration in Sept. 2021, as first reported by The Athletic’s Pablo Torre.

In April 2022, the company allegedly gave Leonard a four-year, $28 million no-show sponsorship deal. One former employee of the now-bankrupt Aspiration told Torre that Leonard’s deal was an effort to get around the salary cap.

Ballmer has denied any involvement with Aspiration’s deal with Leonard in separate interviews, and he’s also said that he was conned by the company.

“These were guys who committed fraud,” he said. “Look, they conned me. They conned me. I made an investment in these guys thinking it was on the up-and-up, and they conned me at this stage.”

In August, Aspiration co-founder Joe Sanberg pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. Federal prosecutors said Sanberg “defrauded investors and lenders out of $248 million by fraudulently obtaining loans, falsifying bank and brokerage statements, and concealing that he was the source of some revenue booked by the company,” per ESPN.

NBA Must Find Evidence Of Wrongdoing To Levy Penalties

The NBA has hired law firm Wachtell Lipton, Rosen & Katz to investigate whether the Clippers circumvented salary cap rules. League executives are wanting Silver to throw the book at Los Angeles to deter other teams from committing similar offenses in the future.

However, Silver made it clear last month that the league must find evidence of any wrongdoing to merit any discipline or levy harsh penalties against the Clippers.

“The burden is on the league if we’re going to discipline a team, an owner, a player or any constituent members of the league,” Silver told reporters following the league’s board of governors meetings in Midtown Manhattan in mid-September.

“I think as with any process that requires a fundamental sense of fairness, the burden should be on the party that is, in essence, bringing those charges.”

Per Marks and Holmes, sources familiar with the process told ESPN the probe could take months, meaning the league is not expected to release its findings until after the 2026 NBA playoffs.