The National Basketball Association has commented on the bombshell report regarding the Los Angeles Clippers and star forward Kawhi Leonard, and announced an ensuing investigation.
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“We are aware of this morning’s media report regarding the LA Clippers and are commencing an investigation,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said to ESPN.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass tells ESPN: “We are aware of this morning’s media report regarding the LA Clippers and are commencing an investigation.”
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 3, 2025
Award-winning journalist Pablo Torre revealed on his podcast Wednesday that Leonard “signed a $28 million endorsement deal for a ‘no-show job’ with a fraudulent tree-planting company funded by $50 million from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.”
A source told Torre that the deal was to “circumvent the salary cap.”
Exclusive: Kawhi Leonard signed a $28M endorsement deal for a “no-show job” with a fraudulent tree-planting company funded by $50M from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, according to documents obtained by @PabloTorre.
“It was to circumvent the salary cap,” an inside source says. pic.twitter.com/F6z5pNEkI1
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) September 3, 2025
Torre retrieved a collection of documents from the now-bankrupt company, Aspiration, which showed that Leonard agreed to a four-year, $28 million endorsement deal with them in April 2022 through his LLC, KL2 Aspire. The deal came nine months after he signed a four-year, $176.3 million deal to remain with the Clippers.
Leonard reportedly didn’t have any obligations to the company, and a clause in one of the documents stated that the deal would be voided if Leonard left the franchise.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 24: Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer hands Kawhi Leonard his jersey as he and Paul George are introduced at Green Meadows Recreation Center on July 24, 2019 in Los…
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 24: Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer hands Kawhi Leonard his jersey as he and Paul George are introduced at Green Meadows Recreation Center on July 24, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.
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The Los Angeles franchise denied any wrongdoing.
“Neither Mr. Ballmer nor the Clippers circumvented the salary-cap or engaged in any misconduct related to Aspiration,” the Clippers said, via ESPN. “Any contrary assertion is provably false: The team ended its relationship with Aspiration years ago, during the 2022-23 season, when Aspiration defaulted on its obligations. Neither the Clippers nor Mr. Ballmer was aware of any improper activity by Aspiration or its co-founder until after the government instituted its investigation. The team and Mr. Ballmer stand ready to assist law enforcement in any way they can.”
The NBA will now investigate the matter, which could result in serious penalties for the Clippers if proven accurate.
“Under the circumvention rules of the NBA‘s 2023 collective bargaining agreement, teams can be punished for circumventing the league’s salary cap. Penalties can include fines up to $7.5 million, direct forfeiture of draft picks, voiding any player contract and a suspension — up to a year — for any team personnel found to have engaged in such a violation,” ESPN’s Baxter Holmes wrote.
“In 2000, it was discovered that the Minnesota Timberwolves engaged in an illegal secret agreement with Joe Smith by allegedly promising to pay him a future multimillion-dollar deal if he signed with the team on a shorter contract for less money.
“The NBA penalized the Timberwolves by removing five first-round draft picks, fining the team $3.5 million and banning head coach Kevin McHale and owner Glen Taylor for a season, along with voiding the contracts for Smith.”
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