2025-26 NBA

[Reilly35]

Ya ain't cheatin', ya ain't tryin'.

Ballmer says he was conned. So are you suing them??

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Report links Kawhi's late pay to Clippers partner

A Clippers limited partner invested $1.99 million in Aspiration nine days before the company made an overdue $1.75 million payment to Kawhi Leonard, according to a report.

www.espn.com

 

[Arangeman]

Report links Kawhi's late pay to Clippers partner

A Clippers limited partner invested $1.99 million in Aspiration nine days before the company made an overdue $1.75 million payment to Kawhi Leonard, according to a report.

www.espn.com

What a dipshit organization

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Ballmer says he was conned. So are you suing them??

Let me invest 50 million in a company that plants trees. That sounds like willful stupidity

 

[IthacaMatt]

What a dipshit organization

Ballmer is in big trouble. This is his college roommate, who was a 1% owner of the team.
No way Steve didn't know about this.

 

[Day2]

Ballmer is in big trouble. This is his college roommate, who was a 1% owner of the team.
No way Steve didn't know about this.

I remember hearing Ohtani was is big trouble.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I remember hearing Ohtani was is big trouble.

And how the Tim Donaghy scandal was gonna take down the league .

 

[Day2]

And how the Tim Donaghy scandal was gonna take down the league .

That’s all I think about when people say the NBA has to punish the Clippers to preserve league integrity. The league hasn’t had integrity since the early ‘80s.

 

[Knicks411]

Ballmer says he was conned. So are you suing them??

They are creditors in bankruptcy court.

There's definitely more and more smoke here. But I would also say that it isnt exactly ridiculous that the company would try and raise more money; they were on the verge of going out of business! That's usually what you try and do in that situation. It makes all the sense in the world to me that you would go back to your initial investors and try and raise more money if you were in trouble. (It also makes all the sense in the world to me that if you were secretly funneling money to them to circumvent the salary cap you would say yes when they asked for more money). But I dont necessarily think "investor invested more money in a struggling company" is the smoking gun some people want it to be

 

[Arangeman]

They are creditors in bankruptcy court.

There's definitely more and more smoke here. But I would also say that it isnt exactly ridiculous that the company would try and raise more money; they were on the verge of going out of business! That's usually what you try and do in that situation. It makes all the sense in the world to me that you would go back to your initial investors and try and raise more money if you were in trouble. (It also makes all the sense in the world to me that if you were secretly funneling money to them to circumvent the salary cap you would say yes when they asked for more money). But I dont necessarily think "investor invested more money in a struggling company" is the smoking gun some people want it to be

Why would paying Kawhi be a priority or even a consideration for a company on the verge of going under?

 

[IthacaMatt]

They are creditors in bankruptcy court.

There's definitely more and more smoke here. But I would also say that it isnt exactly ridiculous that the company would try and raise more money; they were on the verge of going out of business! That's usually what you try and do in that situation. It makes all the sense in the world to me that you would go back to your initial investors and try and raise more money if you were in trouble. (It also makes all the sense in the world to me that if you were secretly funneling money to them to circumvent the salary cap you would say yes when they asked for more money). But I dont necessarily think "investor invested more money in a struggling company" is the smoking gun some people want it to be

This doesn't make any sense. Too many "they's" and "them's" and indefinite articles make this confusing to read.

So, who are creditors in bankrupty court? Not the company used for the phony pay to Kawhi. They would be debtors, right? Didn't they go bankrupt?

So are you talking about the Clippers being their creditors, trying to get the phony $28M back?

That doesn't make any sense, because the Clippers are trying to deny knowledge of the payment; they wouldn't try to be enforcing their right to get the money back in court, because that would admit the illegal payment, right?

So, "investors". Who are they? The Clippers? People investing in the marketing company to make the $28M payment? Why would that be an investment?

The company is reported to have had to fire a bunch of people, at the same time they're giving this money to Leonard for a no-show 'promotional agreement'.

Honestly, I don't understand the point you're trying to make.

 

[Knicks411]

Why would paying Kawhi be a priority or even a consideration for a company on the verge of going under?

It would be as much of a priority as anything else, no? It's an obligation they have.

This doesn't make any sense. Too many "they's" and "them's" and indefinite articles make this confusing to read.

So, who are creditors in bankrupty court? Not the company used for the phony pay to Kawhi. They would be debtors, right? Didn't they go bankrupt?

So are you talking about the Clippers being their creditors, trying to get the phony $28M back?

That doesn't make any sense, because the Clippers are trying to deny knowledge of the payment; they wouldn't try to be enforcing their right to get the money back in court, because that would admit the illegal payment, right?

So, "investors". Who are they? The Clippers? People investing in the marketing company to make the $28M payment? Why would that be an investment?

The company is reported to have had to fire a bunch of people, at the same time they're giving this money to Leonard for a no-show 'promotional agreement'.

Honestly, I don't understand the point you're trying to make.

No. Steve Ballmer invested in the company. No one is denying that. He's claiming he was defrauded by them. You can believe that or not. (he probably was at least in part defrauded by them, the guy who ran the company literally plead guilty to fraud) Kawhi and two companies representing the Clippers are both creditors in the bankruptcy filing, per Mike Vorkunov at the Athletic today. (Initially i was responding to someone asking if Ballmer got defrauded, why isn't he suing)

This company had a number of "endorsement deals" that were basically fictitious. Matt Levine wrote about them last week

“An unusual number of customers were Colombian celebrities, including an actor and several retired soccer players,” who would simultaneously sign contracts (1) obligating them to pay Aspiration a large sum each month to plant trees and (2) obligating Aspiration to pay them a slightly larger sum each month for “marketing and branding services.” Allegedly Aspiration would count the first contract as revenue and hide the second one from its auditors, so that it looked like a big company that was planting lots of trees for paying customers. The point of the marketing deal was not to get any marketing — the celebrities didn’t have to do anything — but rather to create fictitious revenue.

I think that is a possibility here; Kawhi actually gave them say $27 million dollars, they booked it as revenue, and then they paid him $28 million (you can make up whatever numbers you like) and hid the expense. The alleged Kawhi deal does kinda sound like what is described above, no? That said, if that were the case, obviously you'd think Kawhi would be able to prove that. If he was interested in doing so, of course.

Another possibility; Ballmer invested the money with the company explicitly for the purpose of it going to Kawhi to circumvent the cap! Not trying to say there's no chance of that, but this company did have other examples of situations that seem pretty close to the Kawhi deal that would not involve circumvention.

 

[Day2]

Why would paying Kawhi be a priority or even a consideration for a company on the verge of going under?

Because they had a $300 million sponsorship deal with the Clippers that they were in jeopardy of losing (and eventually did lose). Uncle Dennis was harassing them and probably making threats.

 

[Day2]

It would be as much of a priority as anything else, no? It's an obligation they have.



No. Steve Ballmer invested in the company. No one is denying that. He's claiming he was defrauded by them. You can believe that or not. (he probably was at least in part defrauded by them, the guy who ran the company literally plead guilty to fraud) Kawhi and two companies representing the Clippers are both creditors in the bankruptcy filing, per Mike Vorkunov at the Athletic today. (Initially i was responding to someone asking if Ballmer got defrauded, why isn't he suing)

This company had a number of "endorsement deals" that were basically fictitious. Matt Levine wrote about them last week



I think that is a possibility here; Kawhi actually gave them say $27 million dollars, they booked it as revenue, and then they paid him $28 million (you can make up whatever numbers you like) and hid the expense. The alleged Kawhi deal does kinda sound like what is described above, no? That said, if that were the case, obviously you'd think Kawhi would be able to prove that. If he was interested in doing so, of course.

Another possibility; Ballmer invested the money with the company explicitly for the purpose of it going to Kawhi to circumvent the cap! Not trying to say there's no chance of that, but this company did have other examples of situations that seem pretty close to the Kawhi deal that would not involve circumvention.

Here’s the thing: If Wong gave Aspiration $2 million so they could pay Leonard, then why didn’t he later pay them $7 million to take care of the rest? That’s Mark Cuban’s argument. If Leonard gets the remaining $7 million, he’s not listed in the bankruptcy paperwork.

I’m not denying the Wong investment. It happened. What isn’t clear is why he made the investment. His daughter worked for Aspiration. It’s possible they scammed him and used his daughter’s job as the reason.

 

[Day2]

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested additional $10M in company sponsoring Kawhi Leonard

As Aspiration struggled to pay bills in March 2023, LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested millions more into the company.

www.nytimes.com

For those without a subscription, there’s a strong possibility that Ballmer reported Aspiration to the SEC. If that’s the case, there’s no way he was circumventing the cap.

 

[Arangeman]

It would be as much of a priority as anything else, no? It's an obligation they have.

No

 

[STEVEHOLT]

They are creditors in bankruptcy court.

There's definitely more and more smoke here. But I would also say that it isnt exactly ridiculous that the company would try and raise more money; they were on the verge of going out of business! That's usually what you try and do in that situation. It makes all the sense in the world to me that you would go back to your initial investors and try and raise more money if you were in trouble. (It also makes all the sense in the world to me that if you were secretly funneling money to them to circumvent the salary cap you would say yes when they asked for more money). But I dont necessarily think "investor invested more money in a struggling company" is the smoking gun some people want it to be

Wong wasn’t an initial investor. He parachuted in right before the lights were about to be turned out and judged 2 million down the toilet. Then suddenly Kawhi finally gets paid after 3 months of his payment being late. I’m sure this is all coincidence

 

[Knicks411]

Wong wasn’t an initial investor. He parachuted in right before the lights were about to be turned out and judged 2 million down the toilet. Then suddenly Kawhi finally gets paid after 3 months of his payment being late. I’m sure this is all coincidence

Right that is definitely something that raises an eyebrow. That said, the company was in bad shape and needed money. Was that all the money they raised? If all they did was raise money from Wong and it went to Kawhi; pretty damning. If they raised a bunch of money and some of it came from Wong and a lot of it came from other investors, and it went to pay a number of their obligations and Kawhi happened to be one of them; not quite as damning.

 

[Day2]

Wong wasn’t an initial investor. He parachuted in right before the lights were about to be turned out and judged 2 million down the toilet. Then suddenly Kawhi finally gets paid after 3 months of his payment being late. I’m sure this is all coincidence

You really think Wong wittingly did something that obvious?

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Right that is definitely something that raises an eyebrow. That said, the company was in bad shape and needed money. Was that all the money they raised? If all they did was raise money from Wong and it went to Kawhi; pretty damning. If they raised a bunch of money and some of it came from Wong and a lot of it came from other investors, and it went to pay a number of their obligations and Kawhi happened to be one of them; not quite as damning.

Nope. Ballmer also donated another round of big money.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

You really think Wong wittingly did something that obvious?

he either threw away 2 million on a sunk cost fallacy or did something so obviously intended to funnel money to KL. So there is proof of concept that he is capable of making stupid decisions.

 

[Day2]

he either threw away 2 million on a sunk cost fallacy or did something so obviously intended to funnel money to KL. So there is proof of concept that he is capable of making stupid decisions.

His daughter worked for the company. It’s not reasonable to suggest he was conned into thinking that money was to save her job?

 

[STEVEHOLT]

His daughter worked for the company. It’s not reasonable to suggesr he was conned into thinking that money was to save her job?

She’s a Stanford grad. Her father is made of money . I seriously doubt she needed that job more than the job needed her

 

[OttoinGrotto]

She’s a Stanford grad. Her father is made of money . I seriously doubt she needed that job more than the job needed her

That's a reasonable question.

Also.

She hot?

 

[Day2]

She’s a Stanford grad. Her father is made of money . I seriously doubt she needed that job more than the job needed her

Then why didn’t she leave this job she didn’t need? The argument is that her dad knew it was a sinking ship when he invested the money and did it anyway. Why didn’t she hop off?