“Congrats Pablo,” Cuban posted on social media after the NBA’s ruling was announced.
The NBA handed out punishments to the Clippers, forward Kawhi Leonard and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer on Wednesday. Ballmer was suspended by the league for one year, and the Clippers were forced to forfeit five draft picks. The team was also fined $30 million, and Leonard was hit with a $700,000 penalty.
“As much as I wish they circumvented the salary cap, First Steve isn’t that dumb. If he did try to feed KL money, knowing what was at stake for him personally, and his team, do you think he would let the company go bankrupt ? Knowing all creditors would be visible to the world ?” Cuban wrote.
The NBA began investigating in September 2025 whether a $28 million endorsement contract between Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC — a company that filed for bankruptcy last year — broke league rules, following a report by Torre. Earlier this year, Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to defrauding investors and lenders of at least $248 million.
The Associated Press contributed to this post.