Steve Ballmer of Clippers says that ignorance for the $ 28 million Kawhi Leonard agreement has reported, says the third -party company triggered “

The owner of Clippers, Steve Ballmer, has granted his first interview on Thursday evening in Ramona Shelburne of Espn since the team was accused in a relationship of evading the rules of the wage limit of the NBA through an alleged no-show marketing agreement of 28 million dollars between All-Star Kawhi Leonard and a third party company in which Ballmer had invested.

Ballmer said he was not aware of the agreement between Leonard and Alliance-a bank bank who is now banking and a startup of Trees Plant Streets whose co-founder declared himself guilty of fraud-but the journalist Pablo Torre reported on Wednesday on his podcast “Pablo discovers”.

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For Torre, who cited legal documents, Alliance paid to Leonard $ 21 million and has $ 7 million more through the company of Leonard Kl2 Aspire, LLC. According to Torre’s report, Leonard had to do nothing in exchange for money and the contract included a clause that required Leonard to stay with the Clippers.

Ballmer invested $ 50 million in the alliance in the foundation phase in 2021. A former anonymous employee of the alliance spoke on the podcast of Torre through a disguise of the voice and said that it had been said by a superior that the agreement between Alliance and Leonard was made “evading the salary cap”. The NBA is investigating the accusations.

In a previous declaration of the Clippers, Ballmer denied the accusations. Shelburne asked Ballmer on Thursday how to explain that the accusations in the tower report are false. Ballmer told Shelburne that any agreement between Leonard and the aspiration was made independent of him and by the Clippers, who in 2019 had signed Leonard with a three -year contract of 103.1 million dollars.

“We made an investment in the company,” Ballmer said. “I had no control over this company. At the time it was an exciting deal for us. We had already signed our agreement with Kawhi Leonard … …

“At that time, we hadn’t even introduced … Kawhi to aspiration … So they ask to be introduced to Kawhi. According to the rules, we can present our sponsors to our athletes. We cannot be involved.”

Ballmer insisted on the fact that there was no circumvention of the wage cap.

“Where could any of this district happened?” He continued. “He didn’t. He couldn’t.

“The introduction was made. And they were out for the races alone. We were not involved. In the end I learned that they reached an agreement. I have no idea what the agreement was.”

Shelburne reminded Ballmer who, for Torre and reported judicial documents, the agreement between aspiration and Leonard was for $ 28 million. Ballmer then claimed ignorance when he was asked why the aspiration would have signed Leonard for such a profitable contract.

‘They deceived me’

“Speculation is what it is,” Ballmer continued. “Why did they do it? I don’t know why they did what they did. And I don’t know how different it is. And frankly, any speculation would be crazy.

“These are guys who committed a fraud. Listen, they deceived me. I made an investment in these guys thinking it was coming. And they deceived me. At this stage, I have no ability to predict why they could have done anything they had done.”

Shelburne then asked Ballmer of a 2019 NBA investigation to the accusations that Leonard’s uncle and consultant, Dennis Robertson, Aka Uncle Dennis – asked for extra benefits inadmissible during Leonard’s contractual negotiations with the Clippers.

The NBA has eliminated the clippings of offenses in that investigation, but left the door open to reopen the probe if new information came to light. Shelburne specifically asked if Leonard and his team had asked for further inadmissible benefits since then.

“They know the rules,” said Ballmer by Leonard, the representatives of Robertson and Leonard. “We know the rules. And if something is not clear, we remind ourselves what the rules are.

“And we absolutely call clear that await us with those rules and understand them too. It is important for them to stick to them, they have.”

Ballmer said he didn’t talk to Leonard since the news of his reported contract with Alliance broke on Wednesday.

Ballmer told Shelburne that he would have wanted the NBA to investigate if another team had to face the same accusations.

“I would like the championship to investigate, he will take seriously,” Ballmer said. “The rules for circuing the wage limit are important for the League and I would like the League to investigate”.