Marc Lasry discusses Steve Ballmer Kawhi Leonard payment

Former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry said he doesn’t believe L.A. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer attempted to circumvent the NBA’s salary cap by working with a third-party company to surreptitiously pay superstar Kawhi Leonard in 2021

“It’s not something I would ever believe,” Lasry told CNBC in an exclusive interview. “I’ve always found him to follow the rules and do what’s right.”

Journalist and podcast host Pablo Torre reported earlier this month that Leonard had signed a $28 million sponsorship deal with a company called Aspiration. The deal required the NBA forward to do almost nothing with Aspiration to collect the money.

Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration. Torre reported that sources from within Aspiration told him the purpose of the deal was for the Clippers to circumvent the league’s salary cap by paying Leonard more money off the books. The NBA has begun an investigation based on his reporting.

Lasry said there’s always pressure to win in the NBA, but “there’s not pressure to skirt the rules.”

“In the NBA, everybody knows the rules. You follow it, and it’s because you know that if you don’t, you’re just going to get in a lot of trouble,” he said.

Ballmer and the Clippers have denied the allegations of salary cap circumvention. Aspiration filed for bankruptcy earlier this year and its co-founders have been charged with fraud.

“I think it’s probably a lot of smoke, but I don’t think there’s much there,” said Lasry.

Lasry agreed to sell his stake in the Bucks in 2023 to Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam at a $3.5 billion valuation.