Los Angeles Clippers Star Kawhi Leonard has not yet been freed from the allegations linking him to a controversial endorsement deal with a now-bankrupt company, Aspiration.
The NBA is examining whether team owner Steve Ballmer and the organization used the sponsorship arrangement to maneuver the NBA’s salary cap by funneling extra compensation to Leonard.
Over six months since that allegation, an investigation is still ongoing, one that the NBA commissioner describes as “complex.”
The probe, which originally began in September 2025, centers on a $28 million endorsement deal plus $20 million in equity that Leonard signed with Aspiration in April 2022.
This was on the back of the Clippers signing a $300 million sponsorship deal with that same company.
The Kawhi Leonard-Aspiration link
Aspiration was the “first founding partner” of the Intuit Dome, with Ballmer himself investing $50 million in Aspiration through his LLC around the same time.
However, the biggest red flag pointed out by the allegations was that the deal they had with Leonard was essentially a “no-show” arrangement designed to go through the back door of the league rules.
All parties involved have strongly denied any wrongdoing. Ballmer and Leonard’s camp as well as the entire Clippers organization have maintained their innocence.
GettyPLAYA VISTA, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 02: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the LA Clippers. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Although, it was hard for critics to believe that they were all ignorant of what was happening, especially given the fact that the Clippers owner was an investor in the now defunct company.
Also, several Aspiration employees claimed the arrangement aimed to help the Clippers exceed salary cap limits as well as several of the company’s executives pushing back at the deal with the 34-year-old superstar.
The company ended up filing for bankruptcy in March last year, accumulating around $170 million in debts.
What’s next in the investigation?
A full investigation into the allegation was the league’s next realistic move and it was led by the prominent law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, remaining active as of early 2026, with no formal findings or penalties announced yet.
The money trail is the most glaring part of these allegations as the origin was that the Clippers found a way to provide additional bonuses beyond Leonard’s standard NBA contract.
This is in violation of the league’s collective bargaining agreement’s rules against the salary cap.
According to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes, more information will be learned once the investigation is finished interviewing the parties involved, perhaps including Leonard.
“Multiple sources with knowledge of the investigation said that interviews are ongoing,” Holmes wrote in a detailed article published by ESPN on Thursday. “Those sources say that the team from Wachtell Lipton, led by attorney David Anders — who has led other league investigations — is interviewing Clippers officials and other key figures, including former Aspiration employees with knowledge of the company’s sponsorship deal with Leonard. It’s unclear if Leonard has yet been interviewed — or if anyone close to him has, either.”
The forward signed a four-year $176.3 million max deal with the Clippers in 2021.
For now, all parties await the final resolution which will only come after the investigation is concluded and its findings are reported to the league.
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