LOS ANGELES (Diya TV) — The Los Angeles Clippers and team governor Steve Ballmer are under scrutiny as the NBA investigates potential salary-cap circumvention involving star forward Kawhi Leonard and the now-bankrupt financial company Aspiration. New reporting has revealed millions of dollars in payments and investments tied to Leonard’s controversial endorsement deal.
Ballmer and the Clippers have denied any improper actions. They maintain that their dealings with Aspiration were tied to environmental commitments, not Leonard’s salary. The team said its arena development agreements required the purchase of carbon credits, and that it went “far beyond those requirements” by working with Aspiration to offset emissions from fans and the Intuit Dome project.
“We made payments to Aspiration until the company was unable to fulfill its responsibilities,” the Clippers said in a statement.
Despite these denials, the league has hired the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to examine whether the Clippers used Aspiration to provide Leonard with improper benefits.
On his podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out, Torre reported that the Clippers invested $118 million in Aspiration between September 2021 and March 2023. The team’s chief financial officer also signed off on a $21 million payment to Aspiration in June 2022. That sum matched Leonard’s first scheduled quarterly payment from his endorsement deal.
Even before that, the Clippers made a $3 million prepayment for carbon credits on April 1, 2022, followed by another $32.4 million prepayment three days later. On that same day, April 4, Leonard signed his KL2 Aspire contract worth $28 million.
Documents obtained by Torre also show that Leonard had a separate $20 million equity stake in Aspiration. That arrangement reportedly came from company co-founder Joe Sanberg’s personal holdings.
A February 2022 text message sheds more light on the situation. Dennis Robertson, Leonard’s uncle and longtime representative, sent a message to Sanberg that read: “Good morning Joe, hope you had a wonderful weekend. Just a heads up, things are still dragging. Mike has had the contract for about 14 days now and hasn’t heard back.”
Torre reported that “Mike” referred to Aspiration’s legal chief, Michael Shuckerow. The text appeared to reference delays in finalizing Leonard’s additional $20 million equity deal.
Robertson has long drawn attention in NBA circles. During Leonard’s free agency in 2019, several governors and agents expressed concern about family members seeking benefits outside of standard contracts. Later that year, the league tightened its rules, requiring that only certified agents could negotiate directly with teams.
Robertson is not Leonard’s certified basketball agent. That role belongs to Mitch Frankel. But Torre’s reporting suggests Robertson communicated directly with Aspiration about Leonard’s deals.
Past reports also showed that Robertson made a series of unusual requests to the Clippers, many of which the team granted. Those included Leonard living in San Diego early in his Clippers tenure, skipping certain media duties, and receiving individual marketing support.
Aspiration has since collapsed. Sanberg was arrested in March 2025 on charges of conspiring to defraud investors. He later agreed to plead guilty in a scheme that prosecutors said took more than $248 million. That criminal case is separate from the NBA’s probe but adds weight to questions about the company’s dealings with Leonard and the Clippers.
The NBA launched its investigation on Sept. 3, 2024, after Torre’s first report aired. League officials have not set a deadline but are not expected to issue a ruling before the 2026 NBA All-Star Game, which will be hosted at the Clippers’ Intuit Dome.
Ballmer has said he introduced Leonard to Aspiration executives but denied further involvement. He told ESPN he would “want the league to investigate” if any wrongdoing occurred.
The investigation will determine whether the Clippers violated the collective bargaining agreement by using outside business deals to boost Leonard’s compensation. If the league finds evidence of circumvention, potential punishments could include fines, loss of draft picks, or restrictions on player contracts.
For now, the Clippers continue to deny all allegations. But with millions of dollars, a high-profile player, and the reputation of a franchise at stake, the NBA’s final ruling could reshape how teams navigate endorsements and investments in the future.