Clippers' Ballmer aims to dismiss fraud suit over Kawhi Leonard's pay - ESPN

Attorneys representing Steve Ballmer are seeking to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges the LA Clippers owner participated in a fraud by funneling money to star Kawhi Leonard through a now-defunct green banking company, calling the allegations «sensational» and «patently false,» according to court documents.

The filing is in response to a lawsuit initially filed on July 9, 2025, by 11 investors in Aspiration, which filed for bankruptcy in March of that same year. The lawsuit alleged the investors were defrauded out of millions by Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg and others at the company.

At the time, Ballmer was not named as a defendant.

But following a series of reports by journalist and podcast host Pablo Torre that said Ballmer's investment in Aspiration was an effort to circumvent the NBA's salary cap, the investors filed an amended complaint on Nov. 3, 2025, naming Ballmer as a defendant.

«Plaintiffs would not have invested and/or kept their investment in (Aspiration) if Ballmer and Sanberg had disclosed the true nature of Ballmer's investment,» the Nov. 3 complaint reads. «Ballmer thus supported and participated in Sanberg's fraud.»

Ballmer and the Clippers have denied they circumvented the salary cap to pay Leonard and have said they're cooperating with the NBA's investigation into the allegations.

«I understand that Mr. Ballmer and his attorneys deny our claims, but the facts speak for themselves and overwhelmingly support our case,» said Skip Miller, counsel for plaintiffs and a partner in Miller Barondess, LLP in Los Angeles. «They are laid out in detail in our lawsuit. I'm not going to repeat them here. We're going to litigate this case in court and not the press.»

In September 2021, the Clippers and