As the story of Kawhi Leonard’s endorsement deal with Aspiration continues to be the talk of the NBA world, former Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban returned to the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast to continue his defense of LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.
Ballmer is under the microscope because of a $50 million investment he made in Aspiration seven months before Leonard’s sponsorship deal was signed, raising questions about whether the money paid to the Clippers’ superstar was an attempt to circumvent the NBA’s salary cap.
Cuban has been the most prominent and vocal member of “Team Ballmer,” and though he said he has not spoken to the embattled owner, Cuban has sent 160 tweets about the story totaling more than 17,000 words. On the latest episode of the podcast, he came to the PTFO studios for a second round of debate. Here are three takeaways from his conversation with Pablo.
The debate was wide-ranging, covering the timing and financial aspects of the deal, Aspiration’s company history, the ties between Ballmer and Aspiration co-founder Joe Sanberg outside of the Aspiration investment, and the actions of Dennis Wong, the Clippers’ alternate governor. Listen to the full episode for it all on Apple and Spotify.
No, he hasn’t changed his mind
The primary reason Cuban continues to support Ballmer is the lack of explicit evidence proving he or the Clippers orchestrated the deal specifically to get Leonard paid off the books. Cuban instead insists that, despite the amount of smoke, it’s incorrect to assume there’s a fire. He believes it’s plausible that the wrongdoing begins and ends with Sanberg.
“Prior to Joe Sanberg completing this (Leonard) deal, he knew (Aspiration) had no money,” Cuban said. “All of Ballmer’s (invested) money is gone. You would think that if there was a deal that was made between Ballmer and anybody, anybody with half a brain would set aside that money.”
He also defends Ballmer’s claims that, apart from making introductions between Leonard’s camp and Aspiration, he did not know the details of their relationship. Cuban contends that it’s not odd for an owner to be hands-off in side sponsorship deals, even if they’re between their marquee player and a founding partner-level sponsor. Asked if, when he was running the Mavericks, it would have been possible for him not to know about a side deal between then-Mavericks star Luka Dončić and Dallas’ jersey sponsor Chime, Cuban didn’t blink.
“I would have no idea. I wouldn’t care,” he said. “I’m not involved in it at all.”
No, the Mavericks didn’t circumvent the cap with Dirk Nowitzki
In 2014, future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki signed a sweetheart deal that kept him in Dallas for roughly $8 million per year despite max contract offers from other teams. The conspiracy for years was that Cuban’s company overpaid for the distribution rights for Nowitzki’s documentary film “The Perfect Shot” as a way to pay the Mavericks’ star off the books. But PTFO spoke to the producers of the film, who confirmed the amount was $100,000 for 10-year distribution rights.
The truth, according to Cuban, is far less interesting.
“He wanted Tim Duncan money. The cap was $58 million three years in a row. It wasn’t going up, and it was about how do you manage your cap?” he recalled. “Tim Duncan had done a three-for-30 deal and I vividly remember having the conversation. He’s like, ’I’d like to get Tim Duncan money,’ and I’m like, ‘Dirk, the cap stayed flat. Here’s what we want to do,’ and he said, ‘OK.’”
When the cap went up in 2016, the Mavs paid Nowitzki $25 million for one year, which was the same amount as the three-year deal signed in 2014.
The Knicks and Jalen Brunson? Well…
“I don’t know,” Cuban said. “I just think there were a lot of things at play there.”
When Brunson turned down an extension offer from the Mavericks and signed with the Knicks in 2022, his father Rick was hired by New York around the same time. He then left a substantial amount of money on the table when he signed his extension, leading to questions about what role his father’s deal with the team played in Brunson’s contract decisions and whether it was the reason the Knicks were able to lure him away from Dallas.
Cuban said he’s moved on from the moment, but stopped short of absolving New York.
“That’s behind me. More power to JB, more power to everybody,” he said. “Was I happy they only got dinged for a second-round pick? No. No, I wasn’t. It should have been far worse, but it is what it is.”
You can listen to the full episode here.
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