Just In : Mark Cuban backs Steve Ballmer in Kawhi Leondard’s $28m scandal… See more

The controversy surrounding Kawhi Leonard’s secret $28 million Aspiration endorsement deal has reignited questions about Steve Ballmer’s involvement, prompting Mark Cuban to rush to his defense.

While investigative reports by Pablo Torre have scrutinized the Los Angeles Clippers owner and Leonard, the Dallas Mavericks’ hero has consistently defended Ballmer, providing clarity on the timeline and distribution of the disputed funds.

By framing the issue as one of deception rather than mismanagement by Ballmer, the ex-Shark Tank supremo claims the financial transactions occurred well before Ballmer introduced Kawhi to Aspiration.

“Correction,” Cuban later wrote to X.com, formerly Twitter. ” ‘However. Aspiration took all the escrow money before they were even introduced to Kawh.’ This part should have been edited out.”

Cuban further added that: “Aspire took MOST of the escrow money and the first 20m BEFORE BALLMER INTRODUCED ASPIRE TO Kawhi’s team.”

This evidence, Cuban argued, absolves Ballmer of wrongdoing in the Leonard-Aspiration affair revolves around the unusual structure of Kawhi’s deal, which included $28 million in cash and $20 million in stock.