"They bid more than that" - NBA insider reveals Steve Ballmer’s $1 billion arena bid from company tied to Kawhi Leonard scam

An image of Steve Ballmer and Kawhi Leonard
Ramona Shelburne shares her findings on Aspiration in the latest development of the Kawhi Leonard situation. Credit: LA Clippers/x, NBA/x

Last week, the Kawhi Leonard issue dominated the chatter among fans and analysts alike. Now, an NBA insider is reporting some mind-blowing numbers involving the company that supposedly signed Leonard to a $28 million endorsement deal.

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On Monday's "NBA Today," ESPN reporter Ramona Shelburne dished out her findings on Aspiration, a green banking company that has gone bankrupt. According to Shelburne, they placed a staggering bid for the naming rights to the arena built by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.

"The Intuit Dome ended up being named for $550 million, and Ballmer said in an interview that [Aspiration] bid more than that," Shelburne said on the show. "From what I understand from Clippers sources, they bid almost double that $550 million."
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Shelburne added that Intuit ultimately won the bid because, as per Ballmer, the Clippers organization wanted to go with "a longstanding company." She then highlighted the biggest takeaway from these findings.

"That gives you an indication of the kind of money that this company was throwing around back in those days," Shelburne pointed out. "Now, obviously, the NBA investigation will want to discover all the documents that prove that."
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Intuit, the mother company of finance and software ventures such as TurboTax and Credit Karma, was announced as the naming rights partner of the Clippers' arena back in 2021. The Intuit Dome opened in August 2024, hosting concerts for the likes of Bruno Mars and Usher aside from serving as the home venue for the Clippers.

Shelburne's report on Aspiration's naming rights bid offers nuggets that the NBA will likely take into consideration as it probes deeper into the situation involving the company, Leonard, and the Clippers organization.

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"Biggest thing Adam Silver had to deal with since the Bubble": Analyst puts Kawhi Leonard situation into perspective

On the same episode of "NBA Today," Andscape senior writer David Dennis Jr. compared the Leonard-Clippers situation to one of the biggest challenges in the regime of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

"This has the potential to be the biggest thing that Adam Silver has had to deal with probably since the Bubble," Dennis said. "Think about all the moving parts that you have...You already have a court of public opinion here."
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Dennis speculated that NBA governors will be asking more questions in light of the allegations made towards Ballmer and his team. He also brought up the irony of the 2026 All-Star game being held in Intuit Dome next February.

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Edited by Simoun Victor Redoblado
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