NBA investigation into Kawhi Leonard’s Aspiration deal includes Clippers, Steve Ballmer and Leonard

The NBA is investigating Kawhi Leonard’s ties to Aspiration, and that means the league will be talking to just about everyone.

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, Leonard himself and company executives are all expected to be interviewed, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

“The NBA told me that their investigation is underway, and it will most certainly include interviews with key subjects, as part of both the Clipper side, Kawhi Leonard himself, this company,” Charania said.

At issue is whether Leonard’s $28 million endorsement contract with Aspiration — a deal reported to be a “no-show” arrangement — was really a way to steer extra money to the Clippers’ star forward. The company filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

Ballmer has denied that the Clippers played any part in the agreement.

“These were guys who committed fraud. They conned me,” he told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. “I made the introduction. That was it. They did their deal on their own. We weren’t involved.”

League investigators are expected to dig for a paper trail, similar to what brought down the Timberwolves in the Joe Smith scandal more than 25 years ago. That case cost the franchise multiple first-round draft picks and millions of dollars in fines.

Former Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has already come to Ballmer’s defense.

“If Ballmer did something illicit and under the table to work around the salary cap, then he’s got to be sh*tting bricks,” Cuban told Pablo Torre, who broke the story. “I just don’t see that happening. The NBA would have found it easily.”

Now it is the NBA’s turn to find out. If investigators find no evidence of cap circumvention, Ballmer and the Clippers will again be in the clear. If they do, the penalties could be severe.