Lakers VS Slippers Discussion

I disagree that Kawhi’s no-show Aspirations contract does not go against the relevant CBA provisions on cap circumvention. Below are the sections I think there are issues with.

Section 2. No unauthorized agreements.

(d) A violation of section 2, a or two b above, may be proven by direct or circumstantial evidence, including, but not limited to,
Evidence that a player contract or any term or provision thereafter cannot rationally be explained in the absence of a Conduct violation
Of section 2 a or 2B.


I want to bring attention to the word CIRCUMSTANTIAL. I know there have been members on this board that believe there needs to be
be written evidence or a smoking gun to prove that Steve Ballmer knew that he was circumventing the cap. This is not the burden of proof that the CBA requires. This is not a court of law and even if it was, it’s not a criminal offense to circumvent the cap. The above section states ALL you need to Circumstantial evidence that cannot be rationally, explained. Giving Kawhi a contract for the initial 28 million Aspirations deal to be a spokesman for a company that he is required to do no work for his very strange. What is totally irrational is that aspirations NEVER Publicly announced this deal. It was up to four times more than superstars like Leo DiCaprio and Robert Downey Jr. were paid and THEY did work. It was more than Kawai’s new balance shoe contract and way over the going rate for star players that have much higher social media presence and outgoing personalities that a company would seek if they were really looking for a spokesman for their company marketing.

Kawhi was also listed as the new new owner on the title of a Ritz Carlton penthouse that he “bought” from one of the top guys in the investment firm (that I can’t recall the name of right now) that put in money into Aspirations along the same time as Steve Ballmer did.
This was after widely reported request that uncle Dennis was telling team he wanted a house free of charge for Kawhi if he was to sign as a free agent. Both the Lakers and the Raptors complained to the league about this and a “investigation” was opened and found nothing but if you aren’t really looking, you're not really finding anything, are you?

Steve Ballmer put in 10 million more dollars after the SEC and others had started on investigation. Aspirations asked 19 other previous investors, and Steve was the only one that invested more money. In the investment paperwork Schedule 3.10 it is disclosed that the company is in default. KPMG resigned as the company’s independent auditor. The Superior court of the State of CA has filed complaint against the company seeking approximately 8.7 million in damages. FINRA is conducting 5 inquiries we needed to the broker dealing business of aspirations financial LLC. The California Department A financial protections and innovation is conducting a routine examination of aspirations financial business. The SEC is currently conducting a review of the ESG representations made by the company. In this same round of fundraising the only other people who put in money was Dennis Wong. A man who HAD NOT been an investor previously and just HAPPENED to be Steve Ballmer’s college roommate and the only other part owner of Clippers at 1%. You can ask who would put in money into a company that Forbes magazine had already reported was in big financial trouble. Their own paperwork you sign says they are in default and are being investigated. Their answer is no one unless there’s another motive. Wong investment just happened to be almost 2 million dollars. Kawhi quarterly payment from Asprirations was over months behind and 9 days after Wongs wire transfer hits, Kawhi gets paid. The same day 20% of the Asprirations workforce is laid off. It makes perfect sense for a company to pay a non working, not announced spokesperson money when you can’t even make payroll.


Someone tell me what I did wrong to make my font so small. I can’t figure it out.

 

Ballmer also says he didn’t know Joseph Sanberg the founder of Aspirations until they met when he was building the Intuit Dome. That has been proven false by Pablo Torre. Steve also stated in his Ramon rebuttal that the Clippers broke ties with Aspirations after they defaulted on their 300 million dollar deal. That’s also not true. Ballmer is still giving charitable donations to Joe Sanberg foundation over a year later. WAY after he claims to have been duped and defrauded and before you say he gives money to all kinds of charities. His wife Connie and he gave an interview to 60 minutes about their foundation and she’s claims they personally go through every request for money and decides to donate or not. You would think you’d say no to a guy who ripped you off, don’t you?

The list of circumstantial evidence goes on and on. There’s zero chance this in anything but cap circumvention. Pablo Torre has met with Wachtell. He has given them the evidence that he has. It includes text messages, emails, bank statements, property records, LLC companies started by Uncle Dennis etc. Silver needs to act in the appropriate manner. He himself says cap circumvention is a cardinal sin. Prove you believe in your own words.

 

I guess you don’t remember that the NBA has already investigated Ballmer twice about outside contract preks. Once with D Jordan when the whole Jordan is locked in a house and the door is blocked with a chair saga that played out on Twitter and he ended up signing back with the Clippers instead of the Mavs. Ballmer was fined by the NBA 250k for a deal Jordan had with Lexus.

Second is the investigation into the Clippers and Uncle Dennis asking for extra perks from team to sign there. Kawhi was going to get paid max from any team but you can’t get paid extra stuff. That is still cap circumvention. It’s why players are required to pay face value of tickets to game for family/friends. They can’t get free unlimited use of owners planes without paying the going rate etc. It’s a way to get extra “money” to a player.

Also I believe Kawhi did take a little less than max on one of his extension. This didn’t make any sense from a player that is historically cheap. He complained to Wing Stop when he lost some coupons for free wings they gave him. Which they ended up sending him more. He drove a junker car for years after he signed his big contracts…..this is not a man who is going to take a dime less.

So obviously the league can and will investigate issues of cap circumvention that have nothing to do with a player signing for less than a max contract and things that are outside of the MBA contract because they have done it before.

 

To refresh people’s memory.

August 2015, the NBA fined the Los Angeles Clippers $250,000 for violating anti-circumvention rules during their 2015 free-agency pitch to DeAndre Jordan, specifically by offering an unauthorized third-party endorsement deal. Owner Steve Ballmer called the violation "inadvertent,", as the deal did not impact Jordan's decision to re-sign.


Key Details of the 2015 Incident:

• The Violation: The Clippers' presentation included a proposal for a third-party endorsement opportunity, violating league rules that prohibit teams from arranging unauthorized compensation for players.
• The Deal: Reports indicated the offer was a Lexus endorsement deal worth $200,000 a year.
• Ballmer's Response: Steve Ballmer stated in an internal memo that while they aimed to support players, the team must be diligent with Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) compliance.
• Impact: The NBA concluded the illicit offer did not influence Jordan's final decision to stay with the Clippers.
• Context: This occurred during the infamous 2015 free agency saga where Jordan initially agreed to join the Dallas Mavericks before changing his mind and returning to the Clippers.

This 2015 fine is separate from more recent, unrelated allegations involving other players and corporate sponsors that surfaced in 2025.


Just to add Jordan did sign a four year max contract with the Clippers in July 2015. So the league can still take action if the player in question signs for the max.

 

I’m sure the response is going to be there was evidence that Ballmer/Clippers set up the Lexus deal and that is true. The issue is they learned from that and made sure that the next time the extra pay couldn’t be tied to them. It never would have been if Pablo Torre didn’t come along. This was a very long con and although you will never find Ballmer’s signature on a piece of paper saying please pay Kawhi x for cap circumvention reasons The statute is not physical proof. It’s by direct or circumstantial evidence, and there is a s*** load of circumstantial evidence that cannot be denied.

 

He did either last time or the time before. Signing for the max has nothing to do with whether the league can take action though as was proven in the D. Jordan case where Ballmer was still fined 250k and Jordan signed a max contract.