Kawhi Leonard and Steve Ballmer have caught the attention of the NBA community for their shady support agreement.
Los Angeles Clippers superstar Kawi Leonard is often respected by NBA fans for his ability to stay away from controversy.
But following major allegations by journalist Pablo Torre, Leonard’s reputation is now at risk. Leonard is said to have received $28 million in an illegal approval agreement.
The deal was reportedly funded by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer to bypass the NBA salary cap limit. Among these major accusations, Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks minority, informed him of his support for Ballmer.
The world’s largest basketball league, basketball players are making a generation of money during their NBA careers.
However, the league ensures that no owner can bypass the pay cap rules to gain an unfair advantage over other NBA teams. If such claims are confirmed, severe penalties will be imposed.
A major example of this came when the Minnesota Timberwolves were punished for giving Joe Smith an illegal deal. If the allegations against Ballmer are proven correct, Cuba is predicting “even worse” outcomes for the Clippers billionaire owner.
“If your report is correct, if Steve knew, it’s over. He’s toast. Much worse than Joe Smith. It’s likely that at that point it’s just the owner,” Cuban told Torre on a podcast.
He added:
“And there’s a 99% chance that it’ll come out at some point because they’re trying to protect their careers. That’s one thing.”
So far, Ballmer has been responsible for Suction, a shell company that allegedly handed Leonard a $28 million approval contract.
Ballmer is about to rope with other NBA teams amid the controversy. But what if the owner of the Clippers and Leonard proved guilty? Cuba feels that Claw’s agents and uncles are in deep trouble.
“The second is that the agent will also become deep s___. If that comes up, the agent must be involved at a certain level.
“So the agents don’t know if they have other clients, they’re F_____,” Cuban continued.
The owner of the Mavs minority concluded: “And I have my uncle Dennis, who is putting a billion-dollar franchise at risk, working as a general manager, having an agent job, and not leveraged.”
For now, the NBA has begun an official investigation, and fans will need to find the answer sooner than later.