NBA Makes Announcement On Kawhi Leonard, Clippers Accusations

Clippers, Leonard Tied to Cap Scheme

Wednesday morning, Pablo Torre released an 80-minute episode of his podcast, "Pablo Torre Finds Out," through The Athletic's podcast network. It marked the show's first since it was licensed by the media company.

Torre alleged that Leonard agreed to a four-year, $28 million contract with Aspiration months after he signed a team-friendly deal with the Clippers in October 2021. According to documents obtained by Torre, the agreement was to be terminated if Leonard ever began playing for another franchise.

Leonard's personal limited liability company, “KL2 Aspire” — listed on Aspiration's bankruptcy paperwork claiming to be owed $7 million — was registered in November 2021. One month prior, Ballmer agreed to wire $50 million to Aspiration and the company was named a team sponsor for the Clippers. In February 2022, Leonard's deal with Aspiration took effect.

One of Torre's sources, supposedly a former financial analyst for the now-defunct company, testified about Leonard's deal in an audio recording.

“We went through a litany of really, really top-tier name contracts," the source said, "and then (someone would say): ‘Oh, by the way, we also have a marketing deal with Kawhi Leonard.' And that if I had any questions about it, essentially don’t (ask), because it was to ‘circumvent the salary cap.'"

The last case of a team and player skirting the salary cap occurred during the 1999-2000 season during David Stern's tenure as NBA commissioner. The Minnesota Timberwolves agreed to a series of one-year deals with Joe Smith under the promise of a much more lucrative deal years down the road.

When the scandal came to light, Stern forced then-Timberwolves general manager Kevin McHale to take a leave of absence; suspended then-owner Glen Taylor for nine months; stripped the franchise of five first-round picks, two of which were later returned; and voided Smith's most-recent contract along with stripping his bird rights from the Timberwolves.

In response to Wednesday’s allegations, the Clippers denied that a similar scheme took place with Leonard and Aspiration.

“Neither Mr. Ballmer nor the Clippers circumvented the salary cap or engaged in any misconduct related to Aspiration," the team wrote in a statement. "Any contrary assertion is provably false: The team ended its relationship with Aspiration years ago, during the 2022-23 season, when Aspiration defaulted on its obligations."

The Clippers have previously been fined by the NBA after Ballmer promised free agent center DeAndre Jordan a $200,000 annual contract with Lexus during offseason negotiations in 2015. Jordan ultimately returned to LA on a four-year, $87.6 million maximum deal.

According to Section 3 of Article XIII of the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, which details the ‘Penalties’ within the section that covers salary cap circumvention, any team that violates league rules for a first time, as well as the player, could face the following punishments:

• A fine of up to $7.5 million.
• The “direct forfeiture of draft picks.”
• The voiding of the player’s contract, “or any Renegotiation, Extension, or amendment of a Player Contract, between such player and such Team.”
• A fine of up to $350,000 for the player.
• A suspension for up to one year for “any Team personnel found to have willfully engaged in such violation.”
• The voiding of any transaction or agreement found to have violated league rules, and the forced forfeiture of funds received in the deal “unless the player establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that he was unaware of the violation.”

Neither Leonard nor his team have issued a formal statement on the matter.