Vince Staples’ thoughts about Kawhi Leonard’s “no-show job” with a tree-planting company have gained attention, especially after Pablo Torre, who initially reported on the shady endorsement, expressed his agreement.
Staples discussed his involvement in a recruiting pitch—an animated short video—for Leonard on the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast. He revealed how eager the Los Angeles Clippers’ organization was to have Leonard join the team.
“They was doing the most, man,” said Staples, referring to the team’s front office. “They really wanted him to come to the team, and I think it was a good plan.”
Following this, Staples and the podcast hosts joked about the allegations originally brought up by Torre. Torre claimed that Leonard signed a $28 million deal with a tree-planting company funded by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer—a move that has since raised questions about Leonard’s NBA contract.
“Nobody wants to take the case, man,” Staples said. “They should have planted them trees, bro. Everything would have been different. Somebody could have planted them trees.”
“They could have went down to Home Depot got them some joints,” added Staples, referring to Leonard and Ballmer. “Twenty dollars a piece, fifty dollars a piece. Put them trees in the ground, and everything would’ve went away.”
Torre reposted a clip of Staples discussing the situation and agreed with his assessment, writing on X, “I’ve been waiting for [Staples] to weigh in on the Aspiration/Ballmer/Kawhi investigation and he is, in fact, not wrong.”
Back in September, during an episode of *Pablo Torre Finds Out*, Torre shared his findings on Leonard’s mysterious deal with the “tree brokerage” company Aspiration. Notably, Aspiration filed for bankruptcy in March, with one of the creditors listed as KL2 Aspire LLC—an entity belonging to Leonard.
While Torre noted that KL2 was a creditor for $7 million, he emphasized that Leonard did not endorse Aspiration, unlike other celebrities such as Drake and Robert Downey Jr. Torre also revealed the deal was effective from 2022 and was contingent on Leonard remaining with the Clippers.
According to Torre, Aspiration employees told him the deal was “to circumvent the salary cap.”
In response, the Clippers issued a statement denying all allegations:
“Neither Mr. Ballmer nor the Clippers circumvented the salary cap or engaged in any misconduct related to Aspiration. Any contrary assertion is provably false.”
The situation continues to draw interest as more details emerge surrounding Leonard’s contract and the involvement of Aspiration, the tree-planting company reportedly linked to the Clippers’ ownership.
https://www.complex.com/sports/a/treyalston/vince-staples-kawhi-leonard-controversy-pablo-torre
