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 company with direct ties to his team, the Clippers, and franchise owner Steve Ballmer so that he could be paid more money without it counting against the NBA’s salary rules, according to accusations made by former employees of the firm.
Here’s a look at who is involved in this development, and a timeline of what has occurred:
July 2019
After leading the Toronto Raptors to an NBA Finals victory over the Golden State Warriors, Leonard declined his player option and became an unrestricted free agent. He left the Raptors after one season and joined the Clippers on a three-year, $103 million deal. The contract had a player option for the 2021 offseason.
December 2019
The NBA conducted a formal investigation into the Clippers regarding the conduct of Dennis Robertson, Leonard’s uncle and primary advisor, while Leonard was an unrestricted free agent in 2019. Complaints were made about Robertson asking for improper benefits as part of Leonard’s services.
While this investigation concluded with no punishments for the team, The Athletic’s Sam Amick wrote at the time that NBA commissioner Adam Silver “sees salary-cap circumvention as a cardinal sin in the NBA” and that “if any relevant evidence of improper benefits surfaces in the future, the league will re-open the investigation and pursue the charges yet again.”
September 2021
The Clippers broke ground on Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., the $2 billion arena that opened for the 2024-25 NBA season. Later that month, the Clippers held media day at their practice facility in Playa Vista and announced a new partnership with Aspiration, a company co-founded in 2013 by Andrei Cherny and Joseph Sanberg. The agreement between the Clippers and Aspiration was valued at more than $300 million and was set to go through 2043.
Before players met with the media, Ballmer sat down with Sanberg to address the media. Sanberg spoke as if he would be a key partner with the Clippers for the foreseeable future.
“We’re so proud to be partnered with the Clippers and Steve Ballmer in making sure that, as we defeat the climate crisis, Inglewood and the communities that surround Inglewood are at the front of our fight,” Sanberg said. “So you’re going to be hearing a lot from us in the coming years about how we’re partnered to make sure that Inglewood is thriving and one of the first communities to exit some of the despair that’s happened because of the climate crisis.”
Steve Ballmer discussing Clippers’ new partnership with @Aspiration pic.twitter.com/lg4NJyVvlX
— Law Murray ❓ (@LawMurrayTheNU) September 27, 2021
When Leonard addressed the press later that month, it was the first time he was made available since injuring his right knee in the 2021 Western Conference semifinals three months earlier. In July of that year, Leonard underwent knee surgery to repair his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Leonard declined the player option for the 2021-22 season to become an unrestricted free agent again. While the thought was that Leonard would sign a one-plus-one deal with the Clippers, Leonard instead chose a four-year deal with a player option in 2024, lining up with the extension that co-star Paul George signed eight months prior.
In what ultimately was Leonard’s only meeting with assembled media between his June 2021 injury and his return to play in September 2022 (Leonard missed the entire 2021-22 season), Leonard went on to explain why he took a team-friendly deal as opposed to a contract that could maximize his earnings in the 2022 offseason.
“Because I wanted to play,” Leonard said. “I mean, the best situation to me was to do it one-and-one and then opt out and sign a long-term five-year deal, but there’s a lot of concerns that that brings up for you guys and your job and it creates storylines that I’m going to leave the team. One thing, I wanted to secure some money, and I wanted to be able to come back if I was able to this year. If I would have took the one-and-one, I probably would have not played just to be cautious and opted out and took a five-year. I’m here. I’m here to be a Clipper.”
April 2022
Leonard agreed to a $28 million endorsement deal with Aspiration under his company filed as KL2 Aspire, LLC, which was filed four months prior. The arrangement allowed Leonard to be paid four times a year through March 2026.
June 2022
It is worth noting that at the time of the Aspiration agreement, Leonard had not been active on Twitter (now known as X) since 2015. He would not start using his current verified Instagram account until the following October.
The Clippers used Aspiration in 44 tweets, starting in November 2021 on rookie Brandon Boston Jr.’s birthday. Here is the first LA Clippers tweet that referenced both Aspiration and Leonard (on Leonard’s birthday):
Happy Birthday, Kawhi! 🎉
For every comment/retweet, @Aspiration will plant one tree for Kawhi’s birthday! pic.twitter.com/8zvZpj1xic
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) June 29, 2022
June 2023
The Clippers say that their partnership with Aspiration ended after the 2022-23 NBA season. The final tweet from the Clippers with Aspiration tagged turned out to be on Leonard’s birthday, again:
Happy Birthday, Kawhi!🥳
For every comment/retweet, @Aspiration will plant one tree for Kawhi’s birthday! pic.twitter.com/dHOS8sgyWT
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) June 29, 2023
January 2024
An eventful month for the Clippers franchise began with Leonard signing a $153 million contract extension through 2027, with no player options. It was Leonard’s first contract since the NBA agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement that went into effect the previous June.
Later that month, the NBA announced that the Clippers would host 2026 All-Star Weekend at Intuit Dome, even though the arena wasn’t open yet. It was around this time that the Clippers acknowledged to the LA Times that “the sponsorship agreement entered into between Aspiration and the L.A. Clippers was terminated by the team last season. This in no way relieves Aspiration from the obligations they are under contract to provide.” That meant that Aspiration was still on the hook for the rest of the money owed to the Clippers through 2043.
March 2025
Sanberg, Aspiration’s co-founder, was arrested on March 3 for conspiring to defraud an investment fund of at least $145 million, per the U.S. Department of Justice. By the end of March, Aspiration filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. According to the agreement between Aspiration and KL2 Aspire, LLC, Leonard was still owed $7 million from the original $28 million arrangement.
Sanberg pleaded guilty to fraud in August 2025, while the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Sanberg with “raising more than $300 million from investors based on a fraudulent scheme to generate and mislead investors about fake revenues for environmental sustainability services.” The investigation by the SEC is still active.
September 2025
Before the release of Torre’s episode, the Clippers denied that the team “circumvented the salary cap or engaged in any misconduct related to Aspiration.”
In a statement provided to the podcast, the Clippers said, “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 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.”
After the Pablo Torre Finds Out episode was released, the NBA said through a league spokesman that a new investigation of the Clippers will commence. The Clippers provided another statement to the media after the league statement:
“Neither the Clippers nor Steve Ballmer circumvented the salary cap. The notion that Steve invested in Aspiration in order to funnel money to Kawhi Leonard is absurd. Steve invested because Aspiration’s co-founders presented themselves as committed to doing right by their customers while protecting the environment.
After a long campaign of market manipulation, which defrauded not only Steve but numerous other investors and sports teams, Aspiration filed for bankruptcy. Its co-founder, Joseph Sanberg, recently pleaded guilty to a $243 million fraud. Neither Steve nor the Clippers had knowledge of any improper activity by Aspiration or its co-founder until after the government initiated its investigation. Aspiration was a team sponsor for the 2021- 2022 and 2022- 2023 seasons before defaulting on its contract.
There is nothing unusual or untoward about team sponsors doing endorsement deals with players on the same team. Neither Steve nor the Clippers organization had any oversight of Kawhi’s independent endorsement agreement with Aspiration. To say otherwise is flat-out wrong.
The Clippers take NBA compliance extremely seriously, fully respect the league’s rules, and welcome its investigation related to Aspiration. The Clippers will also continue to cooperate with law enforcement in its investigation into Aspiration’s blatantly fraudulent activity.”
(Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
