NBA star Kawhi Leonard has finally addressed the $28 million endorsement deal that’s got lawyers sweating and Twitter folks typing.
And according to Kawhi, he did not wrong in the no-show endorsement deal.
The Los Angeles Clippers superstar spoke for the first time publicly on the matter at the team’s media day after a report earlier this month by journalist Pablo Torre alleged the team violated the NBA’s salary cap rules involving a $28 million endorsement contract between Leonard and the now-bankrupt California-based sustainability services company called Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC.
The league has hired an outside firm to run its investigation.
“The NBA is going to do their job. None of us did no wrongdoing and that’s it,” Leonard said. “It’s not going to be a distraction for me or the rest of the team.”
The team has strongly denied that any rules were broken and said it welcomed the league’s investigation.
“We’re eager for the truth to come out,” Lawrence Frank, the team’s president of basketball operations, said while reading a statement. “The assumptions and conclusions that have been made are disappointing and upsetting, and we expect the investigation will show that these allegations are wrong.”
Aspiration owed Leonard about $7 million of the $28 million deal it had with him when the company filed for bankruptcy.
“I got to look back at the books,” Leonard said, “but it was more than that, for sure.”
Asked if he received the money he was owed, Leonard replied, “Uh, no, but the company went belly up. It was fraud as everyone knows.”
As for the allegation that he did nothing in exchange for being paid by Aspiration, Leonard said, “I don’t think it’s accurate.”
He added, “It’s old. This is all new to you guys. The company went bankrupt awhile ago, so we already knew this was going to happen.”
Leonard made it clear his focus is on the upcoming season. The Clippers open training camp at Intuit Dome on Tuesday.
“I don’t read headlines or new conspiracy theories or anything like that,” he said.
But one thing’s for sure: Kawhi’s ability to stay drama-free while in the middle of drama is legendary. Let’s see how this scandal plays out in the end.
Flip to the page to watch Kawhi Leonard speak…
