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The Los Angeles Clippers are pushing back against a report accusing them of engaging in salary cap circumvention with star forward Kawhi Leonard. The accusation stems from a March 2025 court filing from Aspiration, a now-bankrupt sustainability company that had received $50 million in funding from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.
According to investigative journalist Pablo Torre, Aspiration was going to pay Leonard $28 million in cash between 2022-25 as long as he was playing for the Clippers. A former Aspiration employee in the finance department said on Torre’s podcast that Leonard’s deal “was to circumvent the salary cap.”
The Clippers, in a statement released Wednesday night, strongly denied the claims.
“Neither the Clippers nor Steve Ballmer circumvented the salary cap,” the Clippers wrote in a statement. “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.”
Kawhi Leonard contract drama, explained: Clippers, Steve Ballmer accused of $28 million NBA salary cap evasion
Sam Quinn
In the statement, the team said that neither Ballmer nor the Clippers had knowledge of any improper activity by Aspiration or its co-founder until the government initiated its investigation. Aspiration, the team’s sponsor for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons before defaulting on its contract, filed for bankruptcy back in March. Its co-founder, Joseph Sanberg, recently pleaded in a $243 million fraud case.
The Clippers stressed that Ballmer and the franchise did not have any oversight of Leonard’s independent endorsement agreement with Aspiration.
“To say otherwise is flat-out wrong,” the statement said.
The Clippers stated that they will welcome the NBA’s investigation related to Aspiration and will also continue to cooperate with law enforcement in its investigation into Aspiration’s “blatantly fraudulent activity.”
The NBA said Wednesday afternoon through a spokesperson that it is “aware of this morning’s media report regarding the LA Clippers” and is “commencing an investigation.”