RealGM Basketball Wiretap

10 October 2025

• NBA Won't Consider Moving All-Star Game Away From Clippers

  The NBA will not consider moving the All-Star Game from the Los Angeles Clippers' Intuit Dome amid their investigation into alleged cap circumvention involving Kawhi Leonard. Leonard had a $28 million endorsement contract with Aspiration, a company with ties to Steve Ballmer and Dennis Wong.

  "There's no contemplation of moving the All-Star Game," Silver said, "and planning for the All-Star Game and the surrounding activities are operating completely independently of the ongoing investigation."

  The NBA awarded the 2026 All-Star Game to Intuit Dome in January 2024 before the arena even opened ahead of the 2024-25 season.

  Ballmer made a $50 million investment in Aspiration that is being investigated.

• Kawhi Leonard: None Of Us Did No Wrongdoing

  Kawhi Leonard responded to allegations he performed no services for Aspiration, a now-bankrupt green banking company, with whom he had a four-year, $28 million endorsement contract.

  The NBA has launched an investigation into whether Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers committed a salary cap circumvention involving the company.

  "I understand the full contract and the services that I had to do. I don't deal with the conspiracies or the clickbait analysts or journalism that's going on," Leonard said Monday in his first public comments about the company.

  Leonard was asked how much of his contract he was actually paid as is listed as one of Aspiration's biggest creditors.

  "I'm not sure, I've got to look back at the books. It was more than that for sure," Leonard said. Asked if he collected what he was owed by Aspiration, Leonard said, "No, but the company went belly-up. It was fraud, as everybody knows. If you want to know more details about that company, you need to ask that company or the owner or whoever else is involved."

  Leonard said Monday that he welcomes the NBA investigation and is confident its findings will exonerate him.

  "The NBA is going to do their job," Leonard said. "None of us did no wrongdoing. That's it. We invite the investigations. It's not going to be a distraction for me or the rest of the team."

• Steve Ballmer Gave $1.875M Grant To Joe Sanberg's Nonprofit In December 2024

  Steve Ballmer sent a $1.875 million grant to Joe Sanberg's Golden State Opportunity Foundation in December 2024, reports Pablo Torre. Ballmer sent the funds through Ballmer Group months after the government began to investigate Aspiration, the company that is the center of an NBA investigation into possible salary cap circumvention committed by the Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard. The donation also came more than 1.5 years after Aspiration's deal with the Clippers ended.

  The known connection between Ballmer and Sanberg now dates back to 2017 when an initial donation was first discussed. The Ballmer Group is the philanthropic organization run by Steve and Connie Ballmer.

  "It does not make any iota of sense to be both hoodwinked and bamboozled yet continuously giving money," an insider told Torre.

  During Torre's latest episode, he also uncovers internal discussions of Aspiration employees questioning the wisdom of investing so heavily in Leonard as an endorser of their company with a preference for Stephen Curry.

  Furthermore, Leonard's registered agent, Mitch Frankel, was involved in facilitating payments between Aspiration and Leonard, which proves he had knowledge of the sponsorship deal.

• Clippers Waive Zach Freemantle, Taylor Funk, TyTy Washington Jr

  The LA Clippers have waived Zach Freemantle and TyTy Washington Jr. LA also signed, then waived Taylor Funk. All three players were signed to non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contracts.

  All three players are expected to join the San Diego Clippers for the G League season.

  Freemantle went undrafted out of Xavier at the 2025 NBA Draft. Washington spent last season with the Phoenix Suns on a two-way contract. Funk spent last season with the Capital City Go-Go of the G League.

• Clippers Sign John Poulakidas, Jahmyl Telfort

  The LA Clippers have signed wing John Poulakidas and forward Jahmyl Telfort. Both players signed non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contracts. Poulakidas and Telfort are both expected to join the San Diego Clippers for the G League season.

  Poulakidas went undrafted out of Yale at the 2025 NBA Draft. The 6-foot-6 wing averaged 19.4 on 45/41/90 shooting splits as a senior for the Bulldogs.

  Telfort went undrafted of of Butler at the 2025 NBA Draft. The 6-foot-7 forward averaged 16 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game as a senior for the Bulldogs.

• Kawhi Leonard's $28M Aspiration Deal Unlike Typical NBA Player Sponsorships

  The NBA is investigating the Los Angeles Clippers for potential salary-cap violations related to Kawhi Leonard's $28 million endorsement contract with former team sponsor Aspiration. The investigation focuses on Leonard's deal being drastically different from typical NBA player-sponsor arrangements, according to The Athletic's examination of league-wide relationships.

  The Athletic contacted over 50 companies with NBA jersey sponsorships, with only 20 responding. Of those, just five acknowledged separate endorsement deals with players from sponsored teams. All documented deals involved visible promotional work like commercials, documentaries, or public appearances.

  Leonard's $28 million contract with Aspiration differs significantly from standard NBA player endorsements in both value and visible output. No evidence has surfaced showing Leonard performed any promotional work despite the massive financial commitment.

  Documented player-sponsor partnerships show clear promotional activities. Jayson Tatum appears in Amica Mutual Insurance commercials for the Boston Celtics' sponsor. Stephen Curry's relationship with Golden State Warriors' sponsor Rakuten includes commercials, documentaries, and community projects promoting young designers.

  Cooper Flagg signed with Dallas Mavericks' sponsor Chime before the 2025 draft, appearing on the company's YouTube series. Jrue Holiday had a deal with Milwaukee Bucks' sponsor Motorola that included television commercials. All partnerships demonstrate obvious promotional value for the sponsoring companies.

  "There's too much fire here, it's not just smoke," said a second NBA player agent. "Seven million (annually) for a no-show deal is ridiculous."

  "An outlandish number," said another player agent. "Typically those deals are for somewhere between $500,000 and $1 million, depending on the size of the company, the market, etc. And you can almost always see their work."

  Industry sources describe Leonard's deal as unprecedented in scope and structure. Most NBA player-sponsor endorsements range between $500,000 and $1 million annually, according to multiple player agents interviewed by The Athletic.

  NBA collective bargaining rules prohibit teams from using business partners to circumvent salary caps if player contracts exceed "fair market value of any services to be rendered."

  The league continues investigating whether the Clippers violated salary cap regulations through the unusual Aspiration arrangement.

  The Athletic could not find another financial relationship between a team and a chief sponsor in which ownership also invested millions to the sponsor.

• Dennis Robertson's Requests To Teams Went Beyond Norms

  Dennis Robertson, uncle of Kawhi Leonard, has long been one of the NBA's more notorious characters but the way he has conducted business has received an increase of attention amid allegations of cap circumvention committed by the Los Angeles Clippers.

  When Robertson was representing Leonard during the 2019 free agency period, he asked the Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers for a number of items that were against the NBA's collective bargaining agreement.

  "There's no beginning and there's no end to what he'd ask for," an executive involved in the negotiations said. "...There's a bizarre expectation, not entitlement, but like a willingness to ask for crazy things."

  While many representatives of players will make these types of requests from teams, the audacity of what Robertson asked for set him apart.

  "There was no one governing him," an agent said. "... He worked without any guardrails."

  The Lakers repeatedly told Robertson that his requests were against NBA rules. Jeanie Buss even told Robertson he should attempt to get other teams to agree to his terms in writing, which was meant to underscore the absurdity of his requests.

  Some sources told The Athletic they were amused by Robertson's boldness, while others expressed animosity.

  "I was amused by it," said one former team employee. "I appreciated the hustle of 'He's my nephew, he's the leader of the team and we want everything.'"

  Robertson isn't a registered agent, but he has an extensive background in business.

  "He's a sophisticated guy and a smart guy and aggressive," a former GM said of Robertson. "If he asked for stuff and he did things; I think it's not as much of an outlier as he's being positioned as being. If he were an insider and a traditional agent, everyone would say 'Agents do this all the time.' But the framework is what makes him different. And a lot of people don't like it."

  One team source told The Athletic that it wasn't so much Robertson's asks that were the issue as much as he the fact that he didn't stop making them.

  "They never went against each other," a league source who worked with Leonard said. "They're one and the same in my mind. But Uncle Dennis doesn't mind being the bad guy."

• Report: Steve Ballmer, Clippers Funded $118M To Aspiration Over 18 Months

  Steve Ballmer and the Los Angeles Clippers funded a total of $118 million in Aspiration over an 18-month period, according to new reporting from Pablo Torre. Ballmer invested $10 million in Aspiration as late as March 9, 2023 shortly before the government opened their investigation into the company.

  While Ballmer's $50 million investment in September 2021 and Dennis Wong's $2 million investment in December 2022 were previously known, Torre uncovered a pair of carbon credit purchases made by the Clippers in April 2022 worth $3 million and $32 million, as well as $21 million in carbon credits in June 2022. The carbon credits were for Intuit Dome, which didn't open until the second half of 2024.

  Mark Cuban previously suggested that if the Clippers wanted to circumvent the NBA salary cap with Aspiration, they could fund the company by buying carbon credits.

  "He literally described one of the few ways that the Clippers and Ballmer got money into Aspiration," said a former Aspiration employee. "He literally described exactly what they did. So he's right. He's completely correct. That would be one of the avenues that you would use to circumvent the cap."

• Adam Silver Clarifies Prior Knowledge Of Aspiration, Pledges To 'Get To The Bottom' Of Allegations

  The NBA has launched an investigation into allegations that the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented the salary cap with Kawhi Leonard's $48 million endorsement deal with Aspiration. Adam Silver pledged that the league will "get to the bottom" of the allegations.

  "I don't know anything about Kawhi's deal," said Silver. "Show, no show. We'll certainly find out."

  "Yes, this investigation will take time," Silver said. "I mean, we want to be as complete and thorough as possible, and it's my sense from being involved in these things in the past, we will get to the bottom of this."

  Silver also clarified his prior comments in which he said he'd never heard of the company Aspiration before. Silver's comment followed a post from Pablo Torre where he indicated he obtained a copy of Aspiration's $300 million "Founding Sponsorship Agreement" that said the agreement must be approved by the NBA before its enforcement.

  "If I said I never heard of it, I meant in the context of the accusations here. I mean, I certainly was aware of the brand," Silver said.

  On Tuesday, Ballmer reiterated his stance that he was defrauded by the company and said he welcomes the NBA's probe, which will be conducted by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

  "This is not a fun thing to be through," Ballmer said. "I was personally defrauded through our interactions with the company and some of the staff. The fraud sort of extended broadly through that. We had many relationships with the company - sponsor, activation, (it) was through carbon credits, a whole bunch of complicated stuff."

  "But the important thing is our relationship with the company, and our player's relationship with the company were independent, which is important under the rules of the NBA," Ballmer said, according to the Sports Business Journal. "I feel quite confident in that, that we abided (by) the rules. So, I welcome the investigation that the NBA is doing. It's a great way, from our perspective, to get the facts out there."

• Clippers 'Done Building Around' Kawhi Leonard

  While the Los Angeles Clippers badly wanted to sign Kawhi Leonard during the 2019 offseason, sources tell ESPN that a sense of "fear" began kicking in shortly after they managed to do so based on the price they had to pay in terms of trading for Paul George and the cost of having Leonard as their franchise player.

  The Clippers were the favorites to win the 2020 NBA championship, but blew a 3-1 lead in the second round to the Denver Nuggets, then Leonard tore his ACL during their playoff run in 2021. Injuries continued to plague the Clippers in the following seasons as they've remained around the fringes of title contention. But even as the Clippers continue trying to compete around Leonard, there is a sense that they've shifted their focus away from him.

  "They're done building around [Kawhi]," said one former staffer of the Clippers. "They know that and he knows that."

  Multiple general managers and league executives that spoke with ESPN expect Leonard to play out his contract with the Clippers that expires after the 2026-27 season.

  "Looking back, the deal was a f---ing disaster," one rival GM told ESPN.

  Now, the Clippers are under investigation for allegations of cap circumvention regarding Leonard's endorsement deal with Aspiration. On top of the cost it took for the Clippers to sign Leonard in the form of their trade with the Oklahoma City for Paul George, there could be an additional cost if they're sanctioned by the NBA for the Aspiration deal.

  The Clippers owe their unprotected 2026 first round pick to the Thunder plus swap rights in 2027.

  "This last investigation is different," a former Clippers staffer said of the league's inquiry into a sponsorship deal with a company that Steve Ballmer invested in. "This one directly calls into question Steve Ballmer's character.

  "At some point, Steve has got to get out of the Kawhi business."