NBA says it will open investigation
into report that Clippers broke cap rules with Leonard deal
[September 04, 2025]
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The NBA said Wednesday that it will investigate
if a $28 million endorsement contract between Kawhi Leonard and a
California-based sustainability services company allowed the Los
Angeles Clippers to circumvent league salary cap rules, following a
report by journalist Pablo Torre.
The Clippers strongly denied that any rules were broken and said
they welcomed the league's investigation.
The probe will focus on ties between Leonard, the Clippers and a
company called Aspiration Fund Adviser, LLC, which filed for
bankruptcy this year. It listed several creditors at that time,
among them the Clippers (who were owed about $30 million) and a
company called KL2 Aspire LLC that was owed $7 million.
Leonard is listed as the manager of that company in California
filings. KL is his initials, and 2 is his jersey number. Emails sent
to his listed representatives seeking comment Wednesday were not
immediately returned.
“We are aware of this morning’s media report regarding the LA
Clippers and are commencing an investigation,” NBA spokesman Mike
Bass said Wednesday.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer made a $50 million investment in
Aspiration, and the company and the team announced a $300 million
partnership in September 2021. That was about a month after Leonard
signed a four-year, $176 million extension with the Clippers.
The team ended its relationship with Aspiration after two years,
saying the contract was in default.
“Neither the Clippers nor Steve Ballmer circumvented the salary
cap,” the team said. "The notion that Steve invested in Aspiration
in order to funnel money to Kawhi Leonard is absurd. Steve invested
because Aspiration’s co-founders presented themselves as committed
to doing right by their customers while protecting the environment.
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“After a long campaign of market manipulation,
which defrauded not only Steve but numerous other investors and
sports teams, Aspiration filed for bankruptcy. ... Neither Steve nor
the Clippers had knowledge of any improper activity by Aspiration or
its co-founder until after the government initiated its
investigation.”
Aspiration’s co-founder, Joseph Sanberg, agreed to plead guilty last
month after facing federal charges of wire fraud. Prosecutors said
he defrauded investors and lenders out of $248 million, adding that
“Aspiration’s financial statements were inaccurate and reflected
much higher revenue than the company in fact received.”
Torre, in his reporting, obtained a copy of the endorsement
agreement between Aspiration and KL2 Aspire, one that called for
Leonard to be paid $7 million annually for four years. Given that
timetable, Leonard still would have been owed the final $7 million
at the time of Aspiration’s bankruptcy filing.
There is no evidence that Leonard did anything to publicly endorse
Aspiration.
“There is nothing unusual or untoward about team sponsors doing
endorsement deals with players on the same team,” the Clippers said.
“Neither Steve nor the Clippers organization had any oversight of
Kawhi’s independent endorsement agreement with Aspiration. To say
otherwise is flat-out wrong.”
The league — which previously looked into claims that Leonard's
representatives asked for certain things that would be considered
cap circumventions when he was a free agent several years ago — can
issue stiff penalties if cap rules are found to have been broken by
a team, including a fine of up to $7.5 million, the voiding of
contracts and the forfeiture of future draft picks.
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