Overview
- Joseph Sanberg formally pled guilty in Los Angeles federal court to two counts of wire fraud tied to a $248 million investor scheme, with sentencing set for February 23, 2026.
- Wall Street Journal reporting cites an Aspiration executive saying Sanberg told colleagues in December 2021 that the Clippers approached him about a Kawhi Leonard deal, calling it “important to the Clippers.”
- That account conflicts with owner Steve Ballmer’s public claim that Aspiration asked for an introduction to Leonard and that he was conned by the company.
- The NBA has retained Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to examine whether Leonard’s reported four‑year, roughly $48 million Aspiration endorsement functioned as a no‑show arrangement to skirt the salary cap; no findings or penalties have been announced.
- Aspiration later went bankrupt as executives questioned the contract’s business sense and Leonard performed little documented promotion under the deal, and potential NBA penalties range from fines and loss of draft picks to, in an extreme scenario, voiding a contract.