Could Clippers scandal affect Kawhi Leonard's Hall of Fame case?

Pablo Torre reported that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested $50M in Aspiration. This now-bankrupt company was the team's jersey patch sponsor, months before Leonard received a $48M endorsement deal. He also uncovered that Ballmer's lone Clippers co-owner, Dennis Wong, who was Ballmer's college roommate, invested $1.99M in the floundering company in 2022 when Aspiration was late in sending Leonard a $1.75M payment.

If these allegations prove true, it would be one of the most blatant examples of salary cap cheating that the NBA has ever seen. For an endorsement deal that required nothing at all from Leonard, the Clippers appear to have funneled $48M off the books. It might forever change what Leonard is remembered for.

Kawhi Leonard was a Hall of Famer before coming to the Clippers

On paper, Leonard is a slam-dunk Hall of Famer, and may have been one even before he joined the Clippers. He won NBA titles in 2014 and 2019, winning Finals MVP after both series. Leonard won Defensive Player of the Year in both the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, was voted to the All-Defensive team five times and made two All-Star teams. Since joining the Clippers, he added three All-NBA appearances and two more All-Defensive teams, though he lacked the playoff success of his earlier career.

The question is whether Hall voters will punish Leonard for being involved in cheating. In baseball, the suspicion of circumventing the rules has kept players like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens out of the Hall of Fame, even though they had amassed Hall of Fame credentials before their alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Getting paid under the table isn't a crime, but neither is taking steroids. What might trouble voters is the implication that Leonard was willing to sit out without getting the illicit payments. In 2022-23, Leonard played only five of the Clippers' first 24 games while rehabbing an injury, and while his $1.75M payment was late. After he got paid, he played in 47 of his team's 58 games.

The Basketball Hall of Fame has historically been forgiving of legal issues, inducting players who have had criminal and drug problems like Bernard King, Dennis Rodman and David Thompson. However, none of those players were involved in matters affecting the competition of the NBA.

Leonard will still make the Hall of Fame. He likely won't make it in his first year on the ballot, though, as his reputation might not ever fully recover.