By Lauren Isagholian
The Clippers are set on making a championship run this year, but an early stumble casts uncertainty over their hope of winning the franchise’s first title. The Los Angeles Clippers welcomed Kawhi Leonard, small forward, to the team in 2019.[1] In September 2021, the Clippers announced a new $300 million partnership with Aspiration, a tree-planting company.[2] The Clippers owner, Steve Ballmer, also made an initial investment of $50 million into the company in 2021.[3] Fast forward to March of 2025, Aspiration filed for bankruptcy and is currently under federal investigation for fraud.[4] In April of 2022, “Leonard agreed to a $28 million endorsement deal with Aspiration under his company filed as KL2 Aspire, LLC.”[5] This comes after Leonard re-signed with the Clippers with a $176.3 million max contract.[6] The end of the 2022-2023 NBA season also marked the end of the partnership between the Clippers and Aspiration.[7] Recently, it has been rumored that the endorsement deal Leonard signed was a “no-show job” that did not require him to do anything, and it was also intentionally created to circumvent the NBA salary cap.[8]
In response to the recent news and the severity of the matter, the NBA hired the firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to investigate.[9] A Western Conference general manager said this accusation for the Clippers is “[b]ad for them. Very bad.”[10] The Clippers issued a public statement, affirming that neither the Clippers nor Steve Ballmer had circumvented the salary cap and they are denying all accusations made over the past couple of days.[11] The Clippers stated in the statement that these allegations are “absurd” and they “welcome its investigation related to Aspiration.”[12] Leonard himself has not publicly made any statements on this matter. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has also not made a formal statement on this matter.
Section Three, “Penalties” of Article XIII of the 2023 NBA-NBPA Collective Bargaining Agreement lists the violations one faces if these policies in place against circumvention are violated.[13] Article XIII violations do not end with just a slap on the wrist and a “do better” conversation. In 2000, the NBA ordered the forfeiture of all five first-round picks by the Minnesota Timberwolves, along with a $3.5 million fine, after discovering that the Timberwolves had circumvented their salary cap in 1999 to sign Joe Smith.[14] An additional consequence for the Minnesota team was that the NBA also voided both of Smith’s contracts.[15] While the situation involving the Clippers and Ballmer differs from what happened with the Timberwolves, the NBA does not take situations like this lightly. What happens if Leonard’s contract gets voided? What will this do for his career and his future with the Los Angeles Clippers?
The 2025-2026 season for the Clippers is set to start on October 22, 2025.[16] In the 2024-2025 season, Leonard, in 37 games played, averaged about 21.5 points and played an average of 31.9 minutes.[17] For Clippers fans and for Kawhi Leonard, who have their eyes set on a championship, the absence of jersey #2 from the court would create a significant setback for the team.
[1] Law Murray, Timeline of Kawhi Leonard, Clippers and Steve Ballmer events that led to NBA investigation, The Athletic (Sept. 4, 2025), https://www.nytimes.com/ [https://perma.cc/Z9PU-YLWR].
[2] NBA says it will investigate report Clippers broke salary cap rules with Kawhi Leonard deal, The Associated Press (Sept. 3, 2025, at 2:01 PM), https://www.cbc.ca/ [https://perma.cc/VXS4-DAXH].
[3] Baxter Holmes, Report: Clippers skirted NBA salary cap with Kawhi Leonard payment, ESPN (Sept. 3, 2025, at 12:17 PM), https://www.espn.com/ [https://perma.cc/XF7R-T3AN].
[4] Id.
[5] Murray, supra note 1.
[6] Ohm Youngmisuk, LA Clippers re-sign Kawhi Leonard to 4-year, $176.3 million max deal, ESPN (Aug. 12, 2021, at 6:29 PM), https://www.espn.com/ [https://perma.cc/HM93-N8YA].
[7] Murray, supra note 1.
[8] Holmes, supra note 3.
[9] Kurt Helin, NBA hires law firm to handle investigation into Kawhi Leonard, Clippers endorsement deal, NBC Sports (Sept. 6, 2025, at 2:51 PM), https://www.nbcsports.com/ [https://perma.cc/QT7J-KZN8].
[10] Chris Mannix, ‘NBA Will Be Pissed’: Execs Predict Severe Punishment for Clippers in Alleged Kawhi Leonard Saga, Sports Illustrated (Sept. 3, 2025), https://www.si.com/ [https://perma.cc/3SD5-66AF].
[11] Shams Charania (@ShamsCharnia), X, Clippers statement: (Sept. 3, 2025, at 5:10 PM), https://x.com/ [https://perma.cc/7E95-R2NQ].
[12] Id.
[13] Collective Bargaining Agreement, NBPA, https://nbpa.com/ [https://perma.cc/8F36-JKG8].
[14] Will Ragatz, Kawhi Leonard reports draws comparisons to Wolves’ infamous Joe Smith deal, Sports Illustrated (Sept. 3, 2025), https://www.si.com/ [https://perma.cc/GQH8-Q5S6].
[15] Id.
[16] Los Angeles Clippers Schedule 2025-26, NBA, https://www.nba.com/ [https://perma.cc/3HY3-8FP8].
[17] Kawhi Leonard – LA Clippers Small Forward, ESPN, https://www.espn.com/ [https://perma.cc/37SW-YMNB].
