On the latest episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out, the investigative journalist has revealed further evidence of alleged suspicious transactions between the Los Angeles Clippers and the tree-planting company Aspiration, which Kawhi Leonard allegedly signed a $28 million “no-show job” deal with.
In the episode, Torre showcased a series of transactions between the Clippers, Aspiration, and Kawhi Leonard, who has been accused of receiving money from the tree-planting company so that the Clippers could circumvent the NBA salary cap.
Bank statements acquired by Torre allegedly showed that the Clippers made several investments into Aspiration in exchange for carbon credits. It was initially reported that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer provided $50 million in funding to Aspiration, but these newly unearthed documents brings the total value of Clippers investments in the company to $118 million.
A majority of these investments into Aspiration came when the company was struggling to stay afloat, and no one else was investing, per Sports Illustrated.
One of the investments was much as $21 million, Torre said, with the investments reaching a total of $56 million between April 1 and June 17, 2022. That would make it a similar timeframe to when Leonard signed his no-show deal with Aspiration.
In a statement, the Clippers responded to the reports of Ballmer’s carbon credits purchases.
"Steve and his family are focused on sustainability, which is why Intuit Dome was designed to be a carbon neutral building from its inception and to achieve LEED Zero status over time,” the statement said. “Our development agreements for the arena included mandates to buy carbon credits, but after studying the issue of neutrality, we went far beyond those requirements, exploring ways to address emissions from our fans and contracting with Aspiration to directly purchase carbon offsets, as well as broker the acquisition of additional offsets.”
The statement claimed that the Clippers continued to make payments to the company until Aspiration was no longer able to fulfill its responsibilities as part of a sponsorship deal. The Clippers also claimed that Ballmer was “duped” on the details of what the company, the founder of which pleaded guilty to fraud, was actually doing with its investment money.
Torre's reporting on the situation between Aspiration and the Clippers has prompted an investigation by the NBA. Just recently, Torre unveiled that Leonard was paid $1.75 million by Aspiration just days after a Clippers minority owner invested.
