NBA will not rush judgment in Kawhi
Leonard investigation, Commissioner Adam Silver says
[September 11, 2025]
By TIM REYNOLDS
NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA will not rush to any judgment in its probe
of whether a business relationship between Kawhi Leonard and a
California company was legitimate or merely a way for the Los
Angeles Clippers to circumvent salary cap rules, Commissioner Adam
Silver said Wednesday.
Silver spoke after a board of governors meeting in New York — one
that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer attended — and said the league
will wait to see the report from the outside firm it has hired to
run its investigation before taking next steps.
“We’re constantly learning in the league office and again, I’m
reserving judgment because I don’t know the facts here,” Silver
said. "I don't know what Kawhi was paid. I don't know what he did or
didn't do. We'll leave all that for the investigation.”
The NBA opened its investigation last week into whether a $28
million endorsement contract between Leonard and sustainability
services company Aspiration Fund Adviser, LLC — one that filed for
bankruptcy earlier this year — broke league rules, following a
report by journalist Pablo Torre.
The Clippers have strongly denied that any rules were broken and
said they welcomed the league’s investigation.
“I think as a matter of fundamental fairness, I would be reluctant
to act if there was a mere appearance of impropriety," Silver said.
"I think the goal of a full investigation is to find if there really
was impropriety. ... I would want anybody else in the situation that
Mr. Ballmer is in now or Kawhi Leonard for that matter, to be
treated the same way I would want to be treated if people were
making allegations against me.”
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.
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Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, right, looks toward the
scoreboard during the second half of an NBA basketball game, May 1,
2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, file)
The team ended its relationship with Aspiration
after two years, saying the contract was in default. 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.”
“I’m a big believer in due process and fairness and you need to now
let the investigation run its course," Silver said, adding that he
has “very broad powers” when determining penalties if wrongdoing was
found.
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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