Legal Expert Weighs in on Kawhi Leonard, Clippers Investigation

However, the current expectation is that the Clippers will not receive any significant punishment from the NBA.

Legal expert weighs in

The entire situation weighs on what the NBA finds out in their investigation, as they hired the same law firm that investigated Donald Sterling and Robert Sarver. Even NBA Commissioner Adam Silver rejected the opportunity to truly speak on the situation because he is leaving the case in the hands of the firm.

NBA insider Zach Lowe recently spoke to a legal expert, Michael McCann, and he believes that the NBA's investigation will not amount to anything.

"If there is a provable connection between the Wong payment and Kawhi being paid, it’s a big problem, but to me it seems that the NBA won’t find wrongdoing unless the dots are connected with reliable evidence," Lowe read McCann's statement. "I think the difference between what is reportable by the media and what the NBA finds sufficiently reliable are two different standards. And while the former has been met, we don’t know about the latter."

New report raises more red flag

Despite many experts believing that the Clippers will get out of this investigation scratch-free, that does not mean this whole situation is not suspicious.

Pable Torre continues to dig up more dirt on the situation, as he found out that Aspiration was late on one of their $1.75 million payments to Leonard. Then, Clippers co-owner Dennis J. Wong made a $2 million investment into the company, and Leonard finally received his late payment just nine days after.

There are many pieces to this situation that put Steve Ballmer and the Clippers organization in a shady area, and even if the NBA's investigation does not find any wrongdoing, it has undoubtedly tarnished their image. However, if the NBA cannot hand the Clippers a punishment, it could be detrimental to the rest of the league, as other teams may feel like they can get away with this now.