Los Angeles Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank is adamant that his team did not break rules surrounding the salary cap.
Speaking at media day on Monday for the first time since the team was accused of circumventing the salary cap to sign Kawhi Leonard, Frank insisted there was no wrongdoing.
"We expect the investigation will show that these allegations are wrong," Frank said.
"We will cooperate with this investigation and will let the process play out. But we are eager for the whole truth, the whole picture, to be revealed. We're very confident in what it will show."
In early September, a bombshell report from Pablo Torre Finds Out detailed a $28-million no-show endorsement deal Leonard signed with the firm Aspiration, which pledged to help the environment by building trees. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested $50 million in the company shortly before Leonard's deal, according to documents obtained by Torre.
The NBA has since begun an investigation into whether the Aspiration deal was designed to circumvent the salary cap.
"The salary cap governs everything we do. Our mission every day is to build the best team we can under the constraints of the cap. There is no grey area. There are no secret shortcuts. It's clear what we are and are not allowed to do. The accusations made against us are serious and they don't line up with my experience, my reality," Frank said.
Leonard has not yet publicly commented on the investigation. It is unclear whether he will be available during media day.
Aspiration was a firm that promised its clients carbon credits and tree planting to offset carbon costs. The company went bankrupt in March after co-founder Joe Sanberg was arrested for wire fraud. Sanberg has since pleaded guilty to the charges.
Leonard signed a four-year, $176-million contract extension with the Clippers in August 2021. Then, in September 2021, according to documents obtained by Torre, Ballmer wired $50 million to Aspiration as part of a $315-million investment alongside other partners. That same month, Ballmer and Sanberg held a joint press conference to announce a 23-year, $300-million sponsorship agreement that would see the Aspiration brand appear throughout the Clippers’ new arena, the Intuit Dome.
"Let's not forget this was a case of widespread fraud and there were a lot of different victims," Frank said.
Leonard registered a limited liability company named KL2 Aspire in November 2021, and an endorsement contract between KL2 Aspire and Aspiration began in April 2022, according to documents obtained by Torre. Leonard’s uncle, Dennis Robertson, is listed as the Clippers star’s “designated representative” on the contract.
Asked whether Robertson ever requested impermissible benefits for Leonard from the Clippers, Frank answered coyly.
"Dennis knows the rules. Kawhi knows the rules. (Leonard's agent) Mitch Frankel knows the rules and we know the rules," Frank said.
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