Tag Archives: Kawhi

What We’ve Learned About the Kawhi Leonard Situation—and What We Haven’t

What We’ve Learned About the Kawhi Leonard Situation—and What We Haven’t

NBANBAThe NBA’s investigation of the Los Angeles Clippers will almost certainly take center stage at the board of governors meeting this week. We canvassed sources around the league to gauge what’s next for Kawhi, Steve Ballmer, Adam Silver, and more. Getty Images/Ringer illustration By Howard BeckSept. 9, 3:23 pm UTC • 9 min There were two universal reactions to last …

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NBA hires law firm to investigate Kawhi Leonard, Clippers cap circumvention allegations: Source

NBA hires law firm to investigate Kawhi Leonard, Clippers cap circumvention allegations: Source

The NBA has hired New York-based law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct an investigation into allegations that LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard’s endorsement deal with a now-bankrupt environmental company was made to help his team and its billionaire owner, Steve Ballmer, circumvent the salary cap, a source with knowledge of the situation told The Athletic. The decision …

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Steve Ballmer Pleads Ignorance About Kawhi Leonard’s Outside Money

Steve Ballmer Pleads Ignorance About Kawhi Leonard’s Outside Money

The relationship between the Los Angeles Clippers, the dubious carbon-credit company Aspiration, and Kawhi Leonard sure looks like salary cap circumvention, as journalist Pablo Torre has convincingly laid out on his podcast. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer had personally invested $50 million in Aspiration; Leonard was later offered a $28 million sponsorship by Aspiration that required virtually nothing of him, and …

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Steve Ballmer denies allegations of Kawhi Leonard, Clippers circumventing salary cap

Steve Ballmer denies allegations of Kawhi Leonard, Clippers circumventing salary cap

Los Angeles Clippers chairman Steve Ballmer denied that his team circumvented the NBA’s salary-cap rules in an ESPN interview Thursday night, offering a direct response to a report by the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast. Ballmer also said he welcomed the league’s investigation into the arrangements. Ballmer sat down with ESPN reporter Ramona Shelburne for a 16-minute interview and said …

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LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer breaks silence over Kawhi Leonard endorsement scandal

LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer breaks silence over Kawhi Leonard endorsement scandal

Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Steve Ballmer is calling on the NBA to investigate other teams accused of circumventing the league’s salary cap in his first comments since being the target of a probe involving Kawhi Leonard’s endorsement deal. “I’d want the league to investigate, take it seriously. Salary cap circumvention rules are important to the league, and I’d want the …

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Latest On Kawhi Leonard, Clippers

Latest On Kawhi Leonard, Clippers

Following up on Pablo Torre’s report on the possibility of salary cap circumvention involving the Clippers and star forward Kawhi Leonard, John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal provides some fascinating additional details, citing a “high-level” source who says Leonard made a side deal with the company Aspiration to receive an additional $20MM in company stock on top of the $28MM …

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Questions over Kawhi Leonard payments put focus on NBA salary cap

Questions over Kawhi Leonard payments put focus on NBA salary cap

At the heart of the uproar over allegations that Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers received millions in undisclosed payments from a tree-planting startup is a National Basketball Association rule that caps the total annual payroll for teams. According to a report by Pablo Torre of the Athletic, bankruptcy documents show that the tree-planting startup Aspiration Partners paid Leonard …

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Kawhi Leonard’s No-Show Job Was Reportedly Worth Nearly Twice as Much Money

Kawhi Leonard’s No-Show Job Was Reportedly Worth Nearly Twice as Much Money

Kawhi Leonard had a lucrative no-show endorsement deal with Aspiration, a now bankrupt environmental company partially backed by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer according to a bombshell report from Pablo Torre. According to Torre, Leonard signed a deal worth $28 million over four years with the company. And it might have been even more. Another new report from John Karalis of …

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Timeline of Kawhi Leonard, Clippers and Steve Ballmer events that led to NBA investigation

Timeline of Kawhi Leonard, Clippers and Steve Ballmer events that led to NBA investigation

The Kawhi Leonard era with the LA Clippers has been hit with another scandal. This one is perhaps the most significant yet with the two-time NBA Finals MVP set to begin his seventh season with the franchise in a month. The “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast reported Wednesday that Leonard allegedly received a lucrative, no-work contract from a now-bankrupt environmental …

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NBA to investigate Kawhi Leonard-LA Clippers endorsement deal | Basketball News

NBA to investigate Kawhi Leonard-LA Clippers endorsement deal | Basketball News

NBA says it will open an investigation into a report that Clippers paid Leonard $28m for no-show job at a company. Published On 4 Sep 20254 Sep 2025 The NBA said on Wednesday it will investigate if a $28m endorsement contract between Kawhi Leonard and a California-based sustainability services company allowed the Los Angeles Clippers to circumvent league salary cap …

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