[Holmes] Letter from NBA in Sanberg’s federal sentencing says he cooperated with the NBA’s Clippers-Aspiration probe. Ballmer’s letter to judge claims Sanberg caused losses of \(60M & \)300M separately. Letter also blasts Torre’s reporting as a “vitriolic public campaign” based on “anonymized gossip.”
Attorneys representing the NBA and LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer submitted separate letters to a federal judge ahead of the sentencing of Joseph Sanberg, the co-founder of Aspiration, a now-defunct green banking company at the center of salary cap circumvention allegations under investigation by the league.
David Anders, the Wachtell Lipton attorney leading the NBA’s investigation into whether the Clippers circumvented the league’s salary cap to compensate Kawhi Leonard, said Sanberg sat for two in-person interviews and provided documents and, via his lawyers, “information that was relevant to our investigation,” according to an April 17 letter to judge Stephen V. Wilson of the U.S. District Court of the Central District of California.
“In all our dealings with Mr. Sanberg, both directly and through his counsel, he provided information that was consistent with our review of contemporaneous documents and other evidence,” Anders wrote. “Mr. Sanberg’s cooperation substantially assisted our investigation, including our ability to develop a more complete understanding of key events. At no time during our dealings with Mr. Sanberg and his counsel did they seek, nor did we make, any promises in exchange for his cooperation.”
In a five-page letter to the judge that was obtained by ESPN, an attorney for Ballmer said the Clippers owner lost his entire \(60 million investment in Aspiration, which declared bankruptcy in 2025, and has faced "immeasurable" harm to his reputation. The Clippers also lost "virtually all of the \)300 million sponsorship payments, and more than $20 million held in escrow for additional carbon offset purchases, which were never made and the money not returned,” according to the letter, which a source with knowledge of the situation said had been filed in court.
Ballmer’s attorney also said he was “flagrantly defrauded” by Sanberg and claims Sanberg targeted Ballmer for his wealth and passion for environmental sustainability while using his relationship with Ballmer to attract other investors.
“This is particularly insidious given that, other than greeting Sanberg at a Clippers game they had barely spoken,” Ballmer’s attorney wrote. “Mr. Ballmer recalls speaking to Sanberg only once and that was only briefly while they both attended a public event.”
Ballmer’s attorney wrote that in the wake of allegations, Ballmer commissioned an internal review of the Clippers organization and directed team employees and employees of his charitable organization to cooperate with the NBA investigation. Ballmer’s attorneys sought information from Sanberg, who declined multiple requests, according to the letter.
Ballmer’s attorney also wrote that Torre’s reporting was a “vitriolic public campaign against Mr. Ballmer” and “principally based on anonymized gossip.”
At the end of his letter, Ballmer’s attorney asks the judge for a sentence that accounts for “the reputational damage that will take years to remediate, and in the chilling effect on future endeavors intended to do good at scale.”
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Reuploaded for title clarity.