What a bunch of dumb ****s:
Quote:
The Clippers are about to be in very, very hot water — assuming new allegations against the organization are true. Investigative reporter Pablo Torre claims the team has been involved in a shell corporation scheme which has been paying superstar Kawhi Leonard under the table, and more importantly off of the salary cap for years.
It stems from the bankruptcy of Aspiration Partners, a technology and sustainable growth company which brokered carbon emission credits for large companies like Meta and Microsoft. In Aspiration’s bankruptcy filings they were forced to include their outstanding debt, which included a $7M payment to “KL2 Aspire LLC,” a company whose manager is listed as Kawhi Leonard, and the company name obviously refers to Leonard’s initials, and his jersey number.
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Gosh, what a clever way to hide your scam! I'm only surprised they didn't register the company website as totallynotawaytofunnelmoneytokawhi.com. I mean, come
on.
Quote:
We’re approaching the 2022-23 season. The team has Paul George on a max contract, then a handful of solid, but unremarkable players. If Kawhi walks they’re screwed. There’s not much that’s attractive about the Clippers for a top-tier free agent to join, and the entire future of the basketball operations had been organized around Kawhi and PG13. They’re hoping to find a third superstar to get them over the top, and losing one of their big two sets them back to the start.
Then Leonard re-signs with LA on another max-level contract to keep the band together. On paper it’s only set to pay him $3M more than he was making with the team. However, if we factor in the possibility that he had a side arrangement with Aspiration Partners now he’s making a nice, round $10M more a season to stay with the Clippers. An arrangement which conveniently lasts exactly as long as the extension he signed with the Clippers.
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The article then goes on to speculate about the Clips' punishment. I can think of one right off the bat…make Ballmer sell the team. If Donald Sterling gets the (deserved) boot for nothing more than being a horny racist cheapskate, then this organized chicanery shouldn't even come close to being allowable conduct.
As for Kawhi…unlike the ongoing Pete Rose issue (and similar), I have no idea where the Basketball Hall of Fame stands on bans and such. But he should face some
personal punishment…he's as guilty as Ballmer (if they're guilty), after all. A year's suspension? Put pressure on companies to void his endorsements? I don't know, but Load-Management deserves a
LOAD coming his way.
JMO.