The independent investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers, Kawhi Leonard and the now-bankrupt company Aspiration is close to wrapping up, Silver said.
The probe, launched in September, centers on a four-year, $28 million endorsement deal Leonard signed with Aspiration in 2022 through his personal company, KL2 Aspire. Independent journalist Pablo Torre alleged that Leonard did no promotional work for the company, and that the contract was structured so it would void if he left the Clippers.
If proven, the arrangement would amount to salary cap circumvention. Leonard had already signed a four-year, $176 million maximum contract with the Clippers in 2021. Owner Steve Ballmer, separately, had personally invested $50 million in Aspiration around the same time the Clippers entered a $300 million sponsorship deal with the company. League rules bar teams and owners from funneling money to players outside the cap.
Ballmer and the Clippers have denied any wrongdoing. Ballmer has said he was a victim of fraud by Aspiration’s founders and had no role in the Leonard endorsement deal. Aspiration cofounder Joseph Sanberg was sentenced Monday to 14 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud in a related case.
Silver said neither the Pulitzer Prize that Torre’s reporting won nor the sentencing should shape the outcome.
“I wouldn’t be doing my job if ultimately I issued a determination based on perception,” Silver said. “My job is to follow the facts.”
The law firm running the investigation, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, will deliver its findings to Silver, who will decide on discipline.
“I think we are close to the point now where I think we need to wrap this up, because you also need finality,” Silver said. “The team has to understand what situation they are going to be operating under and so do the other 29 teams.”