On Wednesday morning, former ESPN host Pablo Torre dropped a bombshell report involving Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard.
Leonard, 34, has been with the Clippers since 2019. He signed a three-year, $103 million contract with the franchise after winning an NBA title with the Toronto Raptors. By August of 2021, he opted out of that contract and signed a four-year, $176.3 million contract with Los Angeles.
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In five years with the Clippers, Leonard has averaged 24.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. He has earned All-Star honors three times during that stretch despite dealing with a plethora of injuries.
Even though Leonard is healthy heading into the 2025-26 season, there are some serious concerns about his availability. That’s because he’s been named in a massive scandal.
It’s being reported by Torre that Leonard signed a $28 million endorsement deal for a “no-show job” with Aspiration, a tree-planting company funded by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. This was apparently done to circumvent the cap.
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“I was told, ‘oh these are the major contracts and the major players you really need to be aware of,'” a former Aspiration employee said, via Awful Announcing. “And we went through a litany of really really top-tier name contracts And then, ‘oh, by the way, we also have a marketing deal with Kawhi Leonard. A $28 million organic marketing sponsorship deal with Kawhi.’ And that if I had any questions about it, ‘essentially don’t because it was to circumvent the salary cap.'”
May 3, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) during the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets during game seven of first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Fans calling for NBA to take action.
“Force Steve Ballmer to sell the team and ban him for life and suspend Kawhi for 2 yrs unpaid. Clippers are cursed team,” one fan wrote on X.
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“Kawhi should be banned from the NBA & Clippers should get major penalties,” a second fan suggested.
“If this is true (and it most likely is) the NBA should absolutely hammer the Clippers, Balmer and Kawhi but the commissioner is spineless so,” a third fan commented.
“If this is legally proven, I could see Kawhi’s contract with the Clippers being voided. And that would just the baseline of action taken against Kawhi and Ballmer/Clippers,” another fan said.
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Clippers break silence.
It didn’t take long for the Clippers to address this shocking report. The franchise has denied all wrongdoing.
“Neither Mr. Ballmer nor the Clippers circumvented the salary cap or engaged in any misconduct related to Aspiration,” the team said, via BroBible. “Any contrary assertion is provably false.”
The NBA has not released a statement on this matter. If we had to guess, an investigation will be launched fairly soon.
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If the Clippers are found guilty of manipulating the salary cap, the NBA will have to discipline the team and player.
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Sep 3, 2025, where it first appeared in the NBA section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.