The Clippers have turned into the NBA’s hottest team.
Los Angeles is 11–2 since Dec. 19, the best record in the NBA, while Kawhi Leonard has averaged a league-best 32.7 points per game during that stretch.
And the success hasn’t come by beating the league’s worst teams. The Clippers have wins over the Rockets, Lakers, Warriors, and two over the Pistons, who have the best record in the Eastern Conference.
The streak hasn’t been enough to catapult the Clippers into a postseason spot just yet. They’re half a game behind the Grizzlies for the West’s No. 10 seed, the last spot in the Play-In Tournament. But the turnaround can’t be ignored, especially after last season, when the Pacers started 13–15 only to finish with one of the league’s best records and an NBA Finals appearance.
But the NBA’s investigation into the Clippers circumventing the league’s salary cap still looms over the team’s season, especially as the basketball world is set to descend on Los Angeles and the Clippers host the 2026 All-Star Weekend at their newly built Intuit Dome.
Clippers’ Controversial Season
In September, six weeks before the NBA season, journalist Pablo Torre published a sweeping investigation alleging the Clippers and team owner Steve Ballmer used Aspiration, a fraudulent financial firm, to funnel nearly $50 million in additional money to star forward Kawhi Leonard to circumvent the NBA salary cap.
The NBA immediately said it was investigating the matter. Commissioner Adam Silver said at the Front Office Sports Tuned In Summit in September that the league would “get to the bottom of this.”
In November, Ballmer was also included in a lawsuit of 11 former investors of Aspiration, the fraudulent financial firm tied to the salary cap circumvention allegations.
By Dec. 19, the Clippers were 6–21, a game ahead of the Wizards for the worst record in the league. To make matters worse, Los Angeles owes their 2026 first round pick to the defending champion Thunder, who sat atop the NBA standings.
Two weeks earlier, the team parted ways with Chris Paul, arguably the greatest player in franchise history, in a highly publicized dispute. The 12-time All-Star was reportedly informed of the team’s decision to move on from him in the middle of the night during a road trip in Atlanta.
It was a nightmare scenario for an organization that had come off consecutive 50-win seasons.
Now, the past month has given the Clippers a chance to salvage what appeared to be a lost season. But the NBA’s investigation into the Clippers circumventing the league’s salary cap still looms over the team’s season, especially as the basketball world is set to descend on Los Angeles and the Clippers host the 2026 All-Star Weekend at their newly built Intuit Dome.
It’s unclear when the NBA will make a statement on the investigation. The league hired an outside law firm to aid in its investigation, but Silver has said little since the offseason.
The league has also faced integrity concerns following the October arrests of current and former NBA players and coaches due to gambling-related allegations.
