“Would do anything to stay out of jail”: Mark Cuban outlines trail of $145M fraud in Clippers & Kawhi Leonard scandal with scathing takedown

Amid the allegations raised by Pablo Torre against the LA Clippers and Kawhi Leonard, Mark Cuban has continued to defend Steve Ballmer.

This time, in a post on social media, Cuban stated that Aspiration’s co-founder Joseph Sanberg had been writing checks he couldn’t cash, knowing that eventually his shady dealings would catch up to him.

According to Cuban, by the time the Clippers and Steve Ballmer were involved, the comapny had already made its own bed, and the NBA franchise was going down with it.

On Friday, Cuban wrote, in part:

"By the time he gets an investment from Ballmer or Wong, he knows he is going to jail at some point. Then he puts the guy he paid the 12.3m to, on the Aspiration Board of Directors, and they get the CEO, who had a background of as a prosecutor of financial crimes, to leave in 2022, right as Sanberg defaulted on his fraudulently acquired loan

Trending

"EVERYTHING that happens with the clippers is from 2 guys who knew they were f*cked and would do anything to stay out of jail."

Mark Cuban continues defense of LA Clippers & Kawhi Leonard

While Pablo Torre found additional documents that he alleges prove the franchise and Steve Ballmer were in on circumventing the salary cap, Mark Cuban isn't convinced.

As Torre stated on his show this week, a paper trail seems to suggest Leonard's no-show payment from Aspiration was late. As he alleged, it wasn't until co-owner Dennis Wong, Ballmer's college roomate, invested $1.99 million into Aspiration that the company paid Leonard, and he returned to on-court action.

As Cuban wrote in a follow-up post, however, Ballmer and the franchise didn't sign the two-time NBA champ to a team-friendly deal in order to pay him under the table, they signed Kawhi Leonard the home-team max deal.

"They paid KL the home team max. More than anyone else could. By your logic his leverage was he would take millions less from another team

"So to keep him, the clippers should pay him the Max and give him 28m via his uncle AND convince the scammer to directly give him 20m in stock, that he already fraudulently pledged to a bank, that was backed by a guy he fraudulently gave 12.3m to. Explain to me how those convos worked."

The NBA's investigation might reveal the real truth in the future.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback

About the author

Evan Bell

Evan Bell is a journalist specializing in the NBA and NHL at Sportskeeda, whose love for the game stems from a childhood spent watching the Chicago Bulls. He has been there through their highs and lows, from the Jordan era to the exciting Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah years.

Evan finds the 82-game season and the intensity of playoff basketball exhilarating, and he also revels in the offseason drama. Phil Jackson stands out as his favorite coach, whom he admires for his composed leadership and success in managing dynamic personalities like Dennis Rodman.

To deliver top-quality content, Evan fact-checks information while diligently keeping up with the action year-round.

When he's not writing, Evan follows tennis and Greek football, and also plays basketball and tennis.

Know More