Clippers Deny Circumventing Salary Cap For Kawhi Leonard

Los Angeles Clippers star forward Kawhi Leonard became the subject of controversy Wednesday, when it was reported by The Athletic’s Pablo Torre on his “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast that the six-time All-Star had signed a $28 million endorsement deal for “tree brokerage” Aspiration, a former team sponsor that filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

Kawhi Leonard Was Allegedly Paid $28 Million For No-Show Job

Leonard reportedly didn’t do any work for Aspiration, leading to speculation that the $28 million endorsement agreement was a route for Leonard to earn additional money on top of his NBA salary that would have helped Los Angeles circumvent the salary cap.

The NBA is now investigating the claim to determine if there was any impropriety. The Clippers initially released statements to Torre and then to the Los Angeles Times denying any wrongdoing. Now, the team has issued an extended denial, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

“Neither the Clippers nor Steve Ballmer circumvented the salary cap,” the Clippers’ statement reads. “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.

“After a long campaign of market manipulation, which defrauded not only Steve but numerous other investors and sports teams, Aspiration filed for bankruptcy. Its co-founder, Joseph Sanberg, recently pleaded guilty to a $243 million fraud. 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 was a team sponsor for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons before defaulting on its contract.

Full statement from the LA Clippers/Steve Ballmer in response to today’s @PabloTorre report: pic.twitter.com/WLHT4KYAZy

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) September 4, 2025

“There is nothing unusual or untoward about team sponsors doing endorsement deals with players on the same time. 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 Clippers take NBA compliance extremely seriously, fully respect the league’s rules, and welcome its investigation related to Aspiration. The Clippers will also continue to cooperate with law enforcement in its investigation into Aspiration’s blatantly fraudulent activity.”

Torre responded to the Clippers’ claims on X, standing by his reporting and stating that over 3,000 pages of documents and seven sources inside Aspiration back his story.

He also challenged some of the language in the team’s statement.

Founded in 2013 by Andrei Cherny and Joseph Sanberg, Aspiration opened for business in February 2015.

In September 2021, the Clippers announced a $300 million partnership with the tree-planting company, which included sponsorship in the team’s new arena and on its jersey patch.

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer also invested $50 million into Aspiration.