Seriously! The NBA official intervenes in the investigation, Western giants forged Yin-Yang contracts, and the championship dream may become a bubble

Editor|Lao Kankanqiu

NBA offseason has passed most of the NBA, and teams in the league have also completed trade reinforcement work one after another. Western giants such as the Rockets, Nuggets, Clippers, and Lakers have taken action one after another, and their hard strength has been improved to more or less, and they have begun to launch an encirclement and suppression of the defending champion Thunder. However, just as the league market was calm, a revelation shocked the entire league - former ESPN contributor Pablo Torre revealed that the $28 million "nominal work" agreement between the Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard is suspected of evading the salary cap with the Yin-Yang contract. If it is true, this Western Conference tycoon faces the most severe punishment in NBA history.

Subsequently, US media ESPN famous reporter Shams followed up, and NBA spokesman Mike Bass said that the league has officially launched an investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers. It is reported that the amount was paid to Leonard through a now-banked company under Ballmer (Aspire). Once the investigation results are confirmed, the Clippers may pay a heavy price: fines of up to $7.5 million, direct deprivation of draft picks, declare the player contract invalid, and a ban on the team involved for up to one year.

01 Revealing the Yin-Yang Contract: Details are exposed

On September 14, 2021, Ballmer injected US$50 million into Aspire (the Yin-Yang Contract Company) through his personal limited liability company, becoming part of his funding provider.

Then on September 27 of the same year, the Clippers announced a $300 million cooperation agreement with the fashion-operating (now bankrupt) company, including sponsorship promotions for the company on the Clippers' new stadium and team jerseys. The most critical deal occurred in April 2022, when the Clippers core Leonard signed a four-year, $28 million endorsement contract with Aspire through its personal limited liability company KL2 Aspire. Before that, Leonard had just signed a four-year, $176.3 million max contract extension with the Clippers.

In addition, Pablo Torre also revealed a large number of internal documents of Aspire.

02 The Clippers' Intent: Abstain the salary cap

An anonymous employee who had worked at Aspire revealed to Torre that the "ultimate purpose" of paying Leonard to avoid the salary cap so that he can continue to serve in the Clippers.

Therefore, this endorsement contract has several special terms: if Leonard leaves the Clippers, the endorsement agreement will automatically expire; even if Leonard "refuses to cooperate with any publicity activities required by Aspire," he can continue to receive this endorsement compensation.

These obvious designs of intention undoubtedly point to the fact that the $28 million is not a real endorsement fee, but an additional compensation for Lenañon to circumvent the NBA salary cap regulations.

03 NBA historical precedent: A lesson from the Timberwolves

The most notorious case of Yin-Yang contract punishment in NBA history occurred in 2000. The Minnesota Timberwolves were exposed to signing an illegal secret agreement with player Joe Smith. At that time, after signing the official contract, the Timberwolves secretly promised to provide Smith with a long-term contract of millions of dollars in the future, signing short-term contracts at a lower salary to join the team in exchange for more adequate team salary space to strengthen more players.

In the end, the Timberwolves' Yin-Yang contract was exposed, and the NBA imposed the most severe punishment in history: depriving the Timberwolves of the first round draft pick in the next five years, imposing a sky-high fine of $3.5 million, and banning the team's head coach Kevin McHale and boss Glen Taylor from coaching/managing the team for one season, and declared Smith's related contract invalid.

This penalty almost destroyed the Timberwolves' competitiveness for many years in the future and became one of the most severe punishments for illegal teams in NBA history.

04 Clippers' championship dream: This investigation in the NBA may cast a strong shadow on the Clippers' prospects for the new season and add new variables, especially for veterans who are chasing their first championship. Harden is in the most delicate period of his career, and he averaged 16.6 points and 8.5 assists per game last season, proving that he is still a top-notch organizer, but his age does not wait.

Similarly, Paul is the oldest and closest to retirement in the team, but his purpose of returning to the Clippers is obviously to compete for the championship. After signing the offseason trade contract, the Clippers strengthened many powerful players such as Bills and Collins. They originally had the league's top forward group and depth and were regarded as the most powerful contender for the championship in the new season.

Now, once the violation is confirmed, you may face many punishments such as deprivation of draft picks. Not only will the team's competitiveness be greatly reduced in the next few years, but the dream of three stars Leonard, Harden and Paul to pursue the championship may be shattered again.