The Clippers issued a statement Thursday morning in which team owner Steve Ballmer said he was “duped” by the bankrupt green company Aspiration. The statement was in response to the latest podcast episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out. Torre alleged that he has receipts that show additional investments from Ballmer and other team officials that are tied to payments by Aspiration made to six-time All-Star Kawhi Leonard.
“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.
The statement went on to say that the team went beyond those requirements to find ways to address environmental concerns and ensure the Intuit Dome was carbon neutral.
According to Torre, the Clippers prepaid nearly $21 million in carbon offsets on June 14, 2022, which allowed Aspiration to raise the needed funds two weeks before Leonard’s first payment was due. That brought the total the Clippers paid in carbon emission credits to at least $56 million at the time, according to Torre.
Based on Torre’s findings, the Clippers sent Aspiration $118 million in 18 months.
The issue of carbon credits was initially mentioned by Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban in a social media post on Sept. 12 in his defense of Ballmer against allegations of salary cap violations by the Clippers.
“I bring this up because it would have been a lot easier and a lot safer, if he was trying to circumvent the CBA to just buy more carbon credits,” Cuban wrote in the post.
Carbon offset purchases typically would infuse cash into the company at a high margin and would shield any potential impropriety from the Clippers.
Cuban has publicly defended Ballmer on social media, but after the first report, challenged Torre to uncover other investments that would cover Leonard’s agreement beyond the initial payment.
Last week, Torre exposed a $1.9 million investment made to Aspiration in December 2022 by team vice chairman Dennis Wong days before Leonard received his first $1.7 million payment. His findings are part of an ongoing investigation of alleged salary cap circumvention by the Clippers involving Leonard.