\u201cAfter a long campaign of market manipulation, which defrauded not only Steve but numerous other investors and sports teams, Aspiration filed for bankruptcy. \u2026 Neither Steve nor the Clippers had knowledge of any improper activity by Aspiration or its co-founder until after the government initiated its investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aspiration\u2019s co-founder, Joseph Sanberg, agreed to plead guilty last month after facing federal charges of wire fraud. Prosecutors said he defrauded investors and lenders out of $248 million, adding that \u201cAspiration\u2019s financial statements were inaccurate and reflected much higher revenue than the company in fact received.\u201d<\/p>\n
Torre, in his reporting, obtained a copy of the endorsement agreement between Aspiration and KL2 Aspire, one that called for Leonard to be paid $7 million annually for four years. Given that timetable, Leonard still would have been owed the final $7 million at the time of Aspiration\u2019s bankruptcy filing.<\/p>\n
There is no evidence that Leonard did anything to publicly endorse Aspiration.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is nothing unusual or untoward about team sponsors doing endorsement deals with players on the same team,\u201d the Clippers<\/a> said. \u201cNeither Steve nor the Clippers organization had any oversight of Kawhi\u2019s independent endorsement agreement with Aspiration. To say otherwise is flat-out wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n The league \u2014 which previously looked into claims that Leonard\u2019s representatives asked for certain things that would be considered cap circumventions when he was a free agent several years ago \u2014 can issue stiff penalties if cap rules are found to have been broken by a team, including a fine of up to $7.5 million, the voiding of contracts and the forfeiture of future draft picks.<\/p>\n
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