In 2019 Kawhi Leonard’s uncle asked the Raptors for a piece of the Leafs and a Paul George trade, but also for two big extras: no-show sponsorships, and ownership shares in outside companies. Which he seems to have gotten with Aspiration, and the Clippers. https://t.co/ekgaN7FAfc
— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) September 9, 2025
We won’t know for a while whether or not Kawhi Leonard had a “no-show”endorsement deal that would trigger discipline about salary cap circumvention.
But curious basketball fans are beginning to learn more and more considering that a lot has happened since the initial reporting from Pablo Torre Finds Out first made the shocking discovery about the Clippers Aspiration, a now bankrupt sustainability company.
While there were plenty of funny memes about “no-show jobs” inspired by The Sopranos following the reporting, these are serious allegations that could lead to a harsh penalty from the league if the Clippers are found guilty.
The NBA has hired a law firm to investigate the salary cap circumvention allegations, though it hard to know what to expect considering allegations of this nature are fairly unprecedented.
But what is precedented is this pattern of behavior surrounding Leonard’s camp, and specifically his uncle Dennis Robertson, commonly known in the basketball world as Uncle Dennis.
The Clippers, who were fined $250,000 for “offering players unauthorized business or investment opportunities” under governor Steve Ballmer in 2015, have denied the allegations. In a statement, the team has called the salary cap circumvention allegations “provably false” and absurd.
During a sit-down interview with ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, meanwhile, Ballmer also denied knowledge about the terms of Leonard’s endorsement deal with Aspiration.
However, new reporting from Bruce Arthur suggests that this sounds suspiciously similar to what Robertson and Leonard’s camp sought from the Toronto Raptors during his free agency in 2019 (via Toronto Star):
“Multiple sources with knowledge of Toronto’s contract negotiations with Leonard in 2019 told the Star that Leonard’s uncle and representative, Dennis Robertson, made demands that line up almost perfectly with what Leonard reportedly got from Aspiration. According to those sources, who were granted anonymity in order to speak freely about the negotiations, Robertson’s list was long, and absurd.”
In addition to an ownership stake in NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, Leonard’s camp reportedly made another notable request.
According to Arthur, the Raptors were told they needed to provide “at least $10 million per year in extra sponsorship income” to Leonard beyond whatever salary was provided. Here is more:
But it didn’t end there. As one source put it, when told about all the corporate sponsors in Toronto who would be happy to have Leonard as a pitchman, his camp said, “We don’t want to do anything.” Raptors representatives said any sponsor would want to shoot ads or arrange appearances; Robertson reiterated Leonard didn’t want to do anything for the money.
That’s when the Raptors realized Leonard wasn’t asking to be introduced to Toronto’s lucrative corporate community; they were being asked to arrange no-show jobs, and arrange no-investment investments. MLSE rejected both proposals.
To summarize, Leonard’s camp was reportedly seeking around $10 million in endorsement deals and that Robertson emphasized that Leonard shouldn’t have to do any endorsing in return for that money.
That $10 million figure is significant because reporting from Torre suggested that Leonard signed a deal for $7 million annual endorsement deal (as well as an additional $20 million stake in the company, per the Boston Sports Journal) in which his contract dictated he effectively didn’t have to do anything.
It seems, then, this is exactly the type of deal that Robertson was looking for in 2019 and could have potentially found in 2021.
Kawhi asks for a specific side deal in Toronto. They refuse.
Kawhi signs with the Clippers.
Kawhi later gets exact side deal he asked for from Raptors.
We’re supposed to believe that’s a coincidence?
— John Karalis 🇬🇷 (@John_Karalis) September 9, 2025
Perhaps this is all one big coincidence and there is no foul play here. But it all stems from longstanding themes about Leonard and the Clippers that are all worth addressing and far pre-date the most recent allegations from Torre.
For example, Doc Rivers (who was then head coach of the Clippers) was fined $50,000 in May 2019 for tampering comments about Leonard when he compared the two-time NBA Finals MVP to Michael Jordan.
This came after Clippers executive Lawrence Frank personally scouted “roughly 75 percent” of Leonard’s games with the Raptors.
Leonard infamously signed with the Clippers a few months later in July 2019.
But it wasn’t long until Sam Amick reported that the NBA later had to investigate the organization to discover whether or not there were “improper requests” including guaranteed off-court endorsement money offered to Leonard in the process (via The Athletic):
“Sources say the league was told that Robertson asked team officials for part ownership of the team, a private plane that would be available at all times, a house and — last but certainly not least — a guaranteed amount of off-court endorsement money that they could expect if Leonard played for their team. All of those items, to be clear, would fall well outside the confines of the league’s collective bargaining agreement.”
This rule happened following Leonard’s free agency in 2019. According to reporting from Zach Lowe and Brian Lowe, there was “frustration” at the NBA’s Board of Governors meeting that family members of players were asking for benefits outside of the scope of the collective bargaining agreement.
A few months later, the NBA’s Board of Governors unanimously passed stricter provisions and higher fines for unauthorized agreements. They also implemented a new rule, as explained by Amick:
“Sources say the NBA has asked the National Basketball Players Association to assist with this problem as well by re-emphasizing the rules of representation with its 400-plus players: Only certified agents are authorized to negotiate directly with teams. Translation: No more relatives leading the way, unless they’re also certified as an agent.”
Amick was told by one governor and one prominent agent that this was all because of Robertson.
But the problems did not go away once Leonard was actually on the team.
The following year, in December 2020, a man named Johnny Wilkes filed a lawsuit against Jerry West and the Clippers and alleged he was owed $2.5 million if he helped convince Leonard to sign with the team in 2019.
Here is what Mark Medina and Jeff Zilgitt published at the time (via USA TODAY):
“Wilkes also claims in the lawsuit that he informed Dennis Robertson, Leonard’s uncle, that Robertson would receive a house in Southern California, a travel expense account and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer would fund a $100 million marketing campaign for Leonard. Wilkes in the lawsuit claims he gave West critical information to use in the Clippers’ pitch to Leonard during a free agency meeting.”
The case was dismissed in 2022 before it reached trial. However, a judge denied ESPN’s recent bid to obtain access to trial exhibits from the lawsuit.
It is unclear what specifically ESPN wanted to view, but from that report, the $100 million marketing campaign for Leonard is most curious and what stands out the most.
We don’t know what Leonard’s camp asked of the Clippers to sign with the team in 2019, or when he signed his extensions in both 2021 and 2024.
But we do know that more than six years after signing Leonard, those tampering allegations have only gotten louder.
As recently as October 2024, ex-Clippers staffer Randy Shelton sued both the team and Frank. In his lawsuit, Shelton alleged he was involved in tampering that “leapt well beyond the bounds of the NBA constitution” with regard to Leonard.
That lawsuit is still ongoing, and though the Clippers deny his claims, we know it is not the only litigation or allegation involving the Clippers tampering for Leonard.
This is a pattern of behavior both for Leonard’s camp and the Clippers and if they’re found guilty of any wrongdoing, it could get ugly and messy for everyone involved.