The Los Angeles Clippers’ saga with Aspiration and the NBA will not be solved anytime soon, but with new reporting coming out from Pablo Torre of “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” the Clippers will have to provide hard evidence now to clear themselves of wrongdoing.
Previously, the focus was on Clippers owner Steve Ballmer’s $50 million investment in Aspiration, and the team’s $300 million partnership with the company, which facilitated a $28 million “no-show job” for Kawhi Leonard, according to the allegations.
The new information from Torre adds another layer to the original allegations that the Clippers used Aspiration to circumvent the NBA salary cap.
In a new development to the already ongoing investigation by the NBA, Pablo Torre reported that there is a new person of interest in the allegations.
Clippers minority owner Dennis Wong, according to documents obtained by Torre, invested roughly $2 million in the now-bankrupt company, Aspiration, on December 6th, 2022.
EXCLUSIVE: Kawhi Leonard’s $1.75M “no-show” payday was running late.
Then, per new documents obtained by @PabloTorre, the Clippers’ co-owner invested $1.99M in the team’s broke sponsor.
Nine days later, Kawhi got paid.
“It is beyond shocking,” an Aspiration executive says. pic.twitter.com/yxOYGfo3dZ
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) September 11, 2025
To make matters even trickier, the investment came just nine days before Aspiration made a late $1.75 million quarterly payment to Kawhi Leonard because of his endorsement deal.
This is where the Clippers must be able to provide evidence on their end. A new report from Jake Fischer of “The People’s Insider” revealed some details about how Los Angeles is operating internally.
“The Clippers have maintained that they welcome the league’s investigation and believe they can prove the various assertions false … including, sources say, by providing original emails that show it was Aspiration which sought that first introduction to Leonard’s camp rather than the Clippers directing the company to Leonard,” Fischer wrote.
May 3, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) warms up before the game against the Denver Nuggets during game seven of first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
He continued to say, “Numerous rival team executives have pointed out to The Stein Line that, since there is no shortage of circumstantial evidence already available, there wouldn’t appear to be much need for the NBA’s investigation to find its own more direct connections between the Clippers and Aspiration to drop some kind of hammer on Ballmer, his organization or Leonard. The optics are that bad in the eyes of so many beholders.”
In 2022, Clippers minority owner Dennis J. Wong made an almost $2M investment in Aspiration, which then paid Kawhi Leonard $1.75M — as required through his endorsement contract with the environmental company, according to the latest allegations made on the “Pablo Torre Finds Out”… pic.twitter.com/iMuvz426Mw
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) September 11, 2025
The new reporting from both Torre absolutely deepens the suspicion that the Clippers coordinated an effort to pay Kawhi Leonard outside of the salary cap rules, and while Ballmer and the organization have maintained their innocence, the new details about Wong’s investment cast doubt on their claims.
On the other hand, can the Clippers feasibly prove that they have hard evidence against the documents obtained by Torre? It is now up to the league to prove that on their end.
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