{"id":628358,"date":"2025-09-08T04:05:47","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T03:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?p=628358"},"modified":"2025-09-08T04:05:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T03:05:57","slug":"they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThey Deceived Me&#8221; &#8211; Clippers Owner Makes Big Claim Amid NBA&#8217;s Federal Fraud Investigation on Kawhi Leonard and Franchise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This week, the Los Angeles Clippers and their owner, Steve Ballmer, were the subject of a major controversy. This is because sports journalist <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/pablofindsout\/status\/1963180670810767577\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>Pablo Torre<\/a> released documents about a possible<a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/timeline-of-kawhi-leonard-case-whats-the-problem-with-the-contract-will-clippers-deny-it-strongly\/\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'> illegal agreement between Kawhi Leonard and Aspiration<\/a>, a company in which Ballmer was an investor. The Clippers owner denies the allegations and now claims to have been &ldquo;deceived&rdquo; by Aspiration.<\/p><p><strong>Also Read: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/stephen-a-smith-reacts-to-steve-ballmers-comments-opines-alleged-no-show-report-is-credible\/\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>Stephen A. Smith Reacts to Steve Ballmer&rsquo;s Comments, Opines Alleged &lsquo;No-Show&rsquo; Report is Credible!<\/a><\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Steve Ballmer Says He Was &lsquo;Deceived&rsquo; by Company that Made a Deal with Kawhi Leonard <\/h2><p><em>&ldquo;These guys committed fraud,&rdquo;<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VQsmM1EhTNw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>Ballmer told ESPN<\/a> on Friday. <em>&ldquo;Look, they deceived me. They misled me. I made an investment in these guys thinking it was legitimate, and they misled me on that point. I have no way of predicting why they might have done any of the things they did, much less the specific contract with Kawhi.&rdquo;<\/em><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Aspiration, a Ballmer-backed startup, allegedly paid Kawhi Leonard $28M in a &ldquo;no-show&rdquo; deal, but Ballmer insists it was a normal sponsorship and is unaware of how much Leonard was being paid. <br><br>(&#127909;: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/espn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>@espn<\/a>) <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XbEV8Kzs3d\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>pic.twitter.com\/XbEV8Kzs3d<\/a><\/p>&mdash; TSN (@TSN_Sports) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TSN_Sports\/status\/1963834933924774322?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>September 5, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>The company is the target of a federal fraud investigation and was a sponsor of the Clippers for two seasons, 2021-22 and 2022-23. However, Ballmer claims he was cheated out of his payments by Aspiration, which shortly after filed for bankruptcy, and that he was unaware of the alleged $28 million deal with Kawhi. Therefore, he says he supports an NBA investigation, which is expected to begin soon.<\/p><p><em>&ldquo;The rules against salary cap cheating are important to the league, and I would like the league to investigate,&rdquo; <\/em>Ballmer said.<\/p><p>The franchise could face mild penalties if Ballmer and the Clippers&rsquo; involvement in the deal is proven. They can also face the loss of multiple draft picks and suspensions. In fact, according to a new report, Kawhi reportedly received an additional $20 million in company stock.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Exclusive: Kawhi Leonard signed a $28M endorsement deal for a \"no-show job\" with a fraudulent tree-planting company funded by $50M from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, according to documents obtained by <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PabloTorre?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>@PabloTorre<\/a>.<br><br>\"It was to circumvent the salary cap,\" an inside source says. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/F6z5pNEkI1\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>pic.twitter.com\/F6z5pNEkI1<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pablofindsout\/status\/1963180670810767577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>September 3, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>On Wednesday, the Los Angeles franchise posted a statement vehemently denying the allegations. The team claimed that &ldquo;There is nothing unusual or inappropriate about team sponsors entering into endorsement deals with players on the same team. Neither Steve [Ballmer] nor the Clippers organization had any oversight over Kawhi&rsquo;s independent endorsement deal with Aspiration .<\/p><p>According to Ballmer, Aspiration reached out to Kawhi two months after the forward signed a four-year extension with the Clippers in 2021.<\/p><p>Mark Cuban, former owner of the Dallas Mavericks, defended the Clippers&rsquo; owner, commenting that Ballmer wouldn&rsquo;t be &ldquo;that stupid.&rdquo; According to Cuban, if he were circumventing the salary cap through Aspiration, Ballmer would never have let the company go bankrupt, which drew a lot of attention.<\/p><p><em>Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"mm-layout mm-layout-type-post mm-layout-slot4\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Clippers owner now claims to have been &#8220;deceived&#8221; by Aspiration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":628361,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mux_skip_reasons":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[28,96],"class_list":["post-628358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","tag-kawhi-leonard","tag-los-angeles-clippers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&ldquo;They Deceived Me&quot; - Clippers Owner Makes Big Claim Amid NBA&#039;s Federal Fraud Investigation on Kawhi Leonard and Franchise - The Playoffs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ballmer claims he was cheated out of his payments by Aspiration, and that he was unaware of the alleged $28 million deal with Kawhi Leonard.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&ldquo;They Deceived Me&quot; - Clippers Owner Makes Big Claim Amid NBA&#039;s Federal Fraud Investigation on Kawhi Leonard and Franchise - The Playoffs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ballmer claims he was cheated out of his payments by Aspiration, and that he was unaware of the alleged $28 million deal with Kawhi Leonard.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Playoffs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-08T04:05:57+01:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/They-Deceived-Me-Clippers-Owner-Makes-Big-Claim-Amid-NBAs-Federal-Fraud-Investigation-on-Kawhi-Leonard-and-Franchise.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2340\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gulshan Sharma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ThePlayoffsEN\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ThePlayoffsEN\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gulshan Sharma\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gulshan Sharma\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7d5143cacfb3e010fa92753935f30242\"},\"headline\":\"\u201cThey Deceived Me&#8221; &#8211; Clippers Owner Makes Big Claim Amid NBA&#8217;s Federal Fraud Investigation on Kawhi Leonard and Franchise\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-08T03:05:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-08T03:05:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/\"},\"wordCount\":441,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/They-Deceived-Me-Clippers-Owner-Makes-Big-Claim-Amid-NBAs-Federal-Fraud-Investigation-on-Kawhi-Leonard-and-Franchise.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Kawhi Leonard\",\"Los Angeles Clippers\"],\"articleSection\":[\"NBA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2025\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/\",\"name\":\"\u201cThey Deceived Me\\\\\\\" - Clippers Owner Makes Big Claim Amid NBA\\\\'s Federal Fraud Investigation on Kawhi Leonard and Franchise - The Playoffs\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/They-Deceived-Me-Clippers-Owner-Makes-Big-Claim-Amid-NBAs-Federal-Fraud-Investigation-on-Kawhi-Leonard-and-Franchise.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-08T03:05:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-08T03:05:57+00:00\",\"description\":\"Ballmer claims he was cheated out of his payments by Aspiration, and that he was unaware of the alleged $28 million deal with Kawhi Leonard.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/They-Deceived-Me-Clippers-Owner-Makes-Big-Claim-Amid-NBAs-Federal-Fraud-Investigation-on-Kawhi-Leonard-and-Franchise.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/They-Deceived-Me-Clippers-Owner-Makes-Big-Claim-Amid-NBAs-Federal-Fraud-Investigation-on-Kawhi-Leonard-and-Franchise.jpg\",\"width\":2340,\"height\":1560,\"caption\":\"\u201cThey Deceived Me - Clippers Owner Makes Big Claim Amid NBA\\\\'s Federal Fraud Investigation on Kawhi Leonard and Franchise\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u201cThey Deceived Me&#8221; &#8211; Clippers Owner Makes Big Claim Amid NBA&#8217;s Federal Fraud Investigation on Kawhi Leonard and Franchise\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/\",\"name\":\"The Playoffs\",\"description\":\"Share passion for sports &amp; betting\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Playoffs\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/selo-tp-2020-415x280-1.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/selo-tp-2020-415x280-1.webp\",\"width\":415,\"height\":280,\"caption\":\"The Playoffs\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/ThePlayoffsEN\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/theplayoffs_en\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7d5143cacfb3e010fa92753935f30242\",\"name\":\"Gulshan Sharma\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e857fa818f405f795a9341f75f88c81f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e857fa818f405f795a9341f75f88c81f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gulshan Sharma\"},\"description\":\"A native of Jaipur, Rajasthan, journalist, and a complete soccer and basketball fan, he found the huge interest with basketball by watching videos of Allen Iverson and Tony Parker, but fell head over heels in love with the sport during the Warriors\\\\' championship era (2015-2018). A sports game addict since his late PS1, he\\\\'s also passionate about the Eagles, Inter Miami and the Fever. He\\\\'s fortunate to have seen all his favorite teams win championships. He also has a special love for cricket and football (soccer), where he is a fan of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Barcelona.\u00a0 \u00a0\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/author\/gulshansharma\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"&ldquo;They Deceived Me&quot; - Clippers Owner Makes Big Claim Amid NBA&#039;s Federal Fraud Investigation on Kawhi Leonard and Franchise - The Playoffs","description":"Ballmer claims he was cheated out of his payments by Aspiration, and that he was unaware of the alleged $28 million deal with Kawhi Leonard.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"&ldquo;They Deceived Me&quot; - Clippers Owner Makes Big Claim Amid NBA&#039;s Federal Fraud Investigation on Kawhi Leonard and Franchise - The Playoffs","og_description":"Ballmer claims he was cheated out of his payments by Aspiration, and that he was unaware of the alleged $28 million deal with Kawhi Leonard.","og_url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/","og_site_name":"The Playoffs","article_modified_time":"2025-09-08T03:05:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2340,"height":1560,"url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/They-Deceived-Me-Clippers-Owner-Makes-Big-Claim-Amid-NBAs-Federal-Fraud-Investigation-on-Kawhi-Leonard-and-Franchise.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gulshan Sharma","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ThePlayoffsEN","twitter_site":"@ThePlayoffsEN","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gulshan Sharma","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/"},"author":{"name":"Gulshan Sharma","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7d5143cacfb3e010fa92753935f30242"},"headline":"\u201cThey Deceived Me&#8221; &#8211; Clippers Owner Makes Big Claim Amid NBA&#8217;s Federal Fraud Investigation on Kawhi Leonard and Franchise","datePublished":"2025-09-08T03:05:47+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-08T03:05:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/"},"wordCount":441,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/They-Deceived-Me-Clippers-Owner-Makes-Big-Claim-Amid-NBAs-Federal-Fraud-Investigation-on-Kawhi-Leonard-and-Franchise.jpg","keywords":["Kawhi Leonard","Los Angeles Clippers"],"articleSection":["NBA"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2025","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/","url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/","name":"\u201cThey Deceived Me\\\" - Clippers Owner Makes Big Claim Amid NBA\\'s Federal Fraud Investigation on Kawhi Leonard and Franchise - The Playoffs","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/They-Deceived-Me-Clippers-Owner-Makes-Big-Claim-Amid-NBAs-Federal-Fraud-Investigation-on-Kawhi-Leonard-and-Franchise.jpg","datePublished":"2025-09-08T03:05:47+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-08T03:05:57+00:00","description":"Ballmer claims he was cheated out of his payments by Aspiration, and that he was unaware of the alleged $28 million deal with Kawhi Leonard.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/They-Deceived-Me-Clippers-Owner-Makes-Big-Claim-Amid-NBAs-Federal-Fraud-Investigation-on-Kawhi-Leonard-and-Franchise.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/They-Deceived-Me-Clippers-Owner-Makes-Big-Claim-Amid-NBAs-Federal-Fraud-Investigation-on-Kawhi-Leonard-and-Franchise.jpg","width":2340,"height":1560,"caption":"\u201cThey Deceived Me - Clippers Owner Makes Big Claim Amid NBA\\'s Federal Fraud Investigation on Kawhi Leonard and Franchise"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/they-deceived-me-clippers-owner-makes-big-claim-amid-nbas-federal-fraud-investigation-on-kawhi-leonard-and-franchise\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u201cThey Deceived Me&#8221; &#8211; Clippers Owner Makes Big Claim Amid NBA&#8217;s Federal Fraud Investigation on Kawhi Leonard and Franchise"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/","name":"The Playoffs","description":"Share passion for sports &amp; betting","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization","name":"The Playoffs","url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/selo-tp-2020-415x280-1.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/selo-tp-2020-415x280-1.webp","width":415,"height":280,"caption":"The Playoffs"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/ThePlayoffsEN","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/theplayoffs_en\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7d5143cacfb3e010fa92753935f30242","name":"Gulshan Sharma","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e857fa818f405f795a9341f75f88c81f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e857fa818f405f795a9341f75f88c81f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gulshan Sharma"},"description":"A native of Jaipur, Rajasthan, journalist, and a complete soccer and basketball fan, he found the huge interest with basketball by watching videos of Allen Iverson and Tony Parker, but fell head over heels in love with the sport during the Warriors\\' championship era (2015-2018). A sports game addict since his late PS1, he\\'s also passionate about the Eagles, Inter Miami and the Fever. He\\'s fortunate to have seen all his favorite teams win championships. He also has a special love for cricket and football (soccer), where he is a fan of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Barcelona.\u00a0 \u00a0","url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/author\/gulshansharma\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628358"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628358"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":628365,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628358\/revisions\/628365"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}