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Uncle Dennis needed to get paid
The uncle, Dennis Robertson, also served as Leonard's business manager. He went to the Clippers, Ballmer, and team president Lawrence Frank with demands and asked how they would be fulfilled. To Ballmer, he complained that Gillian Zucker was making introductions for worthless deals and that he could not wait on her because he had to get paid.
Ballmer responded by telling Robertson that he and the Clippers' personnel were all collective workers trying to help Leonard achieve his financial goals. Zucker assured Robertson that Ballmer would follow through on his promise.
Ballmer's public defense was that Aspiration and Leonard were off to the races once the Clippers made an introduction, and that he had been taken advantage of by a scam company. Investigators found that the Clippers initiated the introductions, and that the same pattern ran with real businesses as well as the tree-planting company.
What does an athlete's business manager do?
A business manager handles an athlete's finances, which usually includes budgeting, taxes, investments, and insurance. They are typically paid a percentage of the income they manage or a flat fee. They are separate from the agent, who negotiates the player contract and deals with the team. In the NBA, the players union certifies agents and sets rules for them, while business managers fall outside that certification.
Why do leagues keep teams out of endorsements?
A salary cap only works if all of a player's pay from the team runs through it. If a team could arrange or fund outside deals, it could pay a player well beyond the cap without the money showing up on the payroll. Independent endorsement deals are allowed because a brand pays for the athlete's own marketing value. Cap rules in leagues with caps generally treat money that traces back to the team as compensation.
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