{"id":202200,"date":"2025-09-05T11:42:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T11:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/202200\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T11:42:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T11:42:11","slug":"latest-on-kawhi-leonard-clippers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/202200\/","title":{"rendered":"Latest On Kawhi Leonard, Clippers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following up on Pablo Torre\u2019s report<\/a> on the possibility of salary cap circumvention involving the Clippers<\/strong> and star forward Kawhi Leonard<\/a><\/strong>, John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal<\/a> provides some fascinating additional details, citing a \u201chigh-level\u201d source who says Leonard made a side deal with the company Aspiration to receive an additional $20MM in company stock on top of the $28MM from his original endorsement agreement.<\/p>\n

Co-founder Andrei Cherny didn\u2019t run the $28MM endorsement deal Leonard signed by the company\u2019s board of directors, according to Karalis, who says the agreement was presented to Aspiration\u2019s executive team \u201cas is,\u201d without consulting them or giving them an opportunity to be involved in negotiations. If the executive team had been privy to the talks, it would have advised against the deal, Karalis explains, since management viewed it as a \u201cpoor use of cash resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Cherney signed the deal against the wishes of management, Aspiration\u2019s marketing and management teams saw \u201cno brand synergy\u201d with Leonard and and opted against using his services, preferring to work with climate-focused influences, Karalis continues.<\/p>\n

Regarding the $50MM that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer<\/strong> invested in Aspiration, Karalis says that investment was described as having been made with \u201clight-to-no diligence\u201d and came at a rate higher than the one Oak Tree Capital Management had paid during the company\u2019s rounds of fundraising. As Karalis observes, it wouldn\u2019t have been unusual for a well-known investor like Ballmer to be offered a discounted share price, since his involvement would create positive buzz for the company. Instead, the $11 he paid per share was a dollar higher than what Oak Tree paid.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s more on the Leonard situation:<\/p>\n