It hasn’t been a terrific 48 hours for the L.A. Clippers, who had been rocked by accusations of cap circumvention. In accordance with journalist Pablo Torre, the Clippers’ proprietor Steve Ballmer allegedly created an organization named Aspiration by which he paid star Kawhi Leonard $7 million yearly over a four-year span.
Unique: Kawhi Leonard signed a $28M endorsement deal for a “no-show job” with a fraudulent tree-planting firm funded by $50M from Clippers proprietor Steve Ballmer, based on paperwork obtained by @PabloTorre.
“It was to avoid the wage cap,” an inside supply says. pic.twitter.com/F6z5pNEkI1
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) September 3, 2025
Hello. PTFO can now verify that Aspiration gave Kawhi a secret $20M side-deal, as first reported by @BostonSportsBSJ.
Mixed with Kawhi’s secret $28M no-show endorsement deal: that’s $48M.
PTFO beforehand reported that Steve Ballmer’s private Aspiration funding was… $50M.
— Pablo Torre 🕳️ (@PabloTorre) September 5, 2025
That totaled $28 million in alleged funds plus $20 million in inventory choices, popping out to almost $50 million in funds. That’s past Leonard’s $175 million contract with the Clippers.
If true, that will be an enormous scandal and the most important occasion of cap circumvention in NBA historical past.
How will the NBA punish the Clippers for the Kawhi Leonard controversy?
That has led to hypothesis about potential punishments for the Clippers, although the NBA might not have the ability to drop the hammer the identical means they did through the notorious Joe Smith and Minnesota Timberwolves scandal again in 1995.
To catch readers up, the Wolves and Smith agreed to a wink-wink deal that circumvented the wage cap, and man, did the NBA come down onerous on them.
The Wolves had been penalized 5 (later decreased to 3) first-round picks and the equal of $15 million in money in at this time’s cash. Maybe fortunately for the Clippers, they do not have many first-round picks out there. That is after having traded most of their picks within the Paul George and James Harden trades.
Nonetheless, the NBA may get inventive. The NBA may strip them of their choose swaps in 2026 and 2028, in addition to their 2030, 2031, and 2032 first-round picks, as first proposed by Yahoo Sports activities’ Tom Haberstroh.
That might be pricey, with the Clippers not having first-round picks for the following eight years in that state of affairs. Nonetheless, if the NBA actually needs to ship a message, they may void Leonard’s deal.
May the NBA void Kawhi Leonard’s contract?
As Haberstroh factors out, it attainable however difficult. The contract that Leonard was initially on when he allegedly acquired these funds has already ended. Meaning the league must void his new contract that he is already began.
That might result in complications and pushback from the NBAPA. Finest guess, however I do not consider that the Clippers can be liable to dropping Leonard. A stiff fantastic and being stripped of two choose swaps and three firsts, totaling 5 firsts, is an inexpensive penalty.
That does not embrace any penalties to Ballmer himself, who may probably be suspended for a yr or extra if these allegations are confirmed to be correct. If all that occurs, then the Clippers might be feeling the ramifications of the Leonard drama for the higher a part of the following decade.
