The NBA has announced that it is aware of the case—which has gone viral on social media—and has launched an investigation, but there does not appear to be sufficient grounds for a fine or penalty.

Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers are in trouble. Big trouble. They are accused of circumventing the NBA salary cap system. The Californian franchise allegedly paid its star player $28 million “extra,” on top of his salary, for a bogus, purely cosmetic job as a spokesperson for Aspiration, a company (co)founded by Steve Ballmer, the owner of the Clippers, which has since gone bankrupt. The NBA has announced that it is aware of the case—which has gone viral on social media—and has launched an investigation. The Clippers have rejected the allegations as “absurd” and distanced themselves from Aspiration, stating that it is no longer a sponsor of the team. The franchise considers itself the injured party, if anything. However, the embarrassment and damage to its image are obvious. Whether this will result in sanctions from the NBA remains to be seen. It remains to be proven that there has been a technical offense punishable by fines and possible further penalties.

The case was brought to light by Pablo Torre, a former ESPN journalist, in the latest episode of his podcast. He reportedly read internal documents from Aspiration, a company Ballmer helped found with a $50 million investment on September 14, 2021. A few days later, on the 27th, the Clippers announced a $300 million partnership with Aspiration—which has since gone bankrupt—as a sponsor of both the team and the arena. According to Torre Leonard, the 34-year-old forward and face of the franchise signed a $28 million endorsement deal with Aspiration in April 2022. It was signed nine months after Kawhi’s $176 million contract renewal with Los Angeles, the maximum salary allowed at the time by the collective bargaining agreement. There’s more. A clause included in the documents reviewed by Torre would have stipulated that Leonard’s contract with Aspiration would be terminated if he left the Clippers. And that Leonard could refuse to do what was asked of him and still get paid. An anonymous former Aspiration employee told Torre that Kawhi’s compensation would be a way to “circumvent the salary cap limits.” The allegations are serious and detailed.

Spies and tricks—  They played it smart. That’s what many basketball fans thought when the news broke. Such tricks know no bounds; the whole world is the same. But it’s one thing to claim it, another to prove it. Then there are the leaks from disgruntled former employees—the company filed for bankruptcy in March 2025 and the other co-founder, Joe Sanberg, is under federal investigation on fraud charges—which should always be taken with a grain of salt. Taking revenge on those who we believe have treated us badly is as old as the hills. The NBA has the authority to punish teams that circumvent salary caps with fines of millions of dollars, removing draft picks from the franchise involved in the offense and canceling the contracts of the players involved. It has done so in the past, so it would not be the first time. In 2000, when it discovered that the Minnesota Timberwolves had secretly agreed with center Joe Smith to promise him a subsequent lavish contract if he signed an initial short-term, low-paying deal with the franchise, it came down hard. He took away five first-round picks in future drafts from the Wolves, voided Smith’s contract, who then ended up in Detroit, and suspended owner Glen Taylor and GM Kevin McHale for the season. The fine for Minny was $3.5 million, a record at the time. The NBA has already investigated the Clippers and Leonard in the recent past. This followed a lawsuit filed in December 2020 by Johnny Wilkes, an alleged friend of Leonard’s uncle, Dennis Robertson, who claimed to have helped the Clippers bring Kawhi to Los Angeles in the summer of 2019, after he won the title with Toronto, and was seeking a payment of $2.5 million, which he said had been agreed with Jerry West, then the franchise’s executive. The Clippers denied everything and the lawsuit was unsuccessful. They came out ‘clean’. But elsewhere, the episode was not taken well. Raptors owner Larry Tanenbaum contacted three sponsors at the time and arranged a meeting with Kawhi to convince him to stay and earn an additional $15 million in endorsement deals. Leonard said no anyway and went to play in his hometown. The NBA did not impose sanctions because it is difficult to judge intentions.
KAWHI IN DISGUISE—  A sphinx, he hardly ever changes expression, on and off the court. He speaks little, very little. Hermetic or moody, take your pick. It doesn’t help his image. And he has bordered on self-harm with too many missteps. You know the story: the tragedy of his father being killed in Compton, a rough neighborhood in Los Angeles, leaving him in the care of his uncle, a questionable character, but one to whom he owes a lot. And who forces him to break with the San Antonio Spurs who had “invented” him as a champion. Then there was the hit-and-run with the ring in Toronto, the thousand injuries inversely proportional to the communication about the details of his ailments. Kawhi is approaching the twilight of his career, and the question remains as to which Pirandellian mask to assign him: victim of circumstances, or do those silences hide many shadows? And the Clippers? They have no masks to play, they are the usual bunglers. Paperineschi, tell the story of the franchise. Never made it to the Finals. Ballmer has invested a fortune since taking over from Sterling, but so far it’s been more smoke than substance. For next season, the Clippers have put together a collection of illustrious figurines. But for an album from five years ago. The Kawhi case risks being the straw that breaks the camel’s back in terms of the fans’ patience. There’s always one…