Kawhi Leonard’s Clippers saga, which previously produced a lawsuit and an NBA investigation involving his uncle, has taken another strange turn.
On Wednesday, Pablo Torre reported that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer paid Leonard $28 million for a “no-show job” as a workaround to the NBA’s salary-cap restrictions. According to Torre, Leonard was paid by Aspiration, a climate-focused fintech company that promoted tree-planting as part of its mission and was funded in part by Ballmer. Torre said Ballmer paid Leonard indirectly through KL2 Aspire LLC, a company owned by the Clippers star. If true, those payments represent a clear violation of NBA rules because Ballmer was paying Leonard beyond his contract with the team.
The Clippers denied the allegations Wednesday, calling them “provably false.” Later in the day, in a statement shared with ESPN’s Shams Charania, the team went further, saying “the notion that Steve invested in Aspiration in order to funnel money to Kawhi Leonard is absurd.”
NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement to Front Office Sports, “We are aware of this morning’s media report regarding the LA Clippers and are commencing an investigation.”
Aspiration declared bankruptcy in March. One of its cofounders, Joseph Sanberg, was criminally charged in California last month and pleaded guilty to defrauding multiple investors and lenders.
“The Clippers take NBA compliance extremely seriously, fully respect the league’s rules, and welcome its investigation related to Aspiration,” the team’s late Wednesday statement said. “The Clippers will also continue to cooperate with law enforcement in its investigation into Aspiration’s blatantly fraudulent activity.”
It’s the latest development in Leonard’s high-profile 2019 recruitment, which continues to generate headlines years later.
A Previous Clippers Investigation
A Southern California native, Leonard—fresh off his second Finals MVP—was courted by both the Lakers and Clippers, but surprisingly signed a three-year, $104 million contract with the less-storied franchise in July 2019.
That winter, The Athletic reported the NBA had investigated the Clippers after Leonard’s uncle Dennis Robertson sought improper benefits. Among Robertson’s alleged asks were a private plane, team equity, and a contract that exceeded what the Clippers could offer Leonard in compliance with the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement. No wrongdoing was found at the time, but The Athletic reported Robertson made the same requests to multiple teams, including the Raptors and Lakers.
On Wednesday, Robertson’s name came up again when Torre reported he was listed as Leonard’s “designated representative” in KL2 Aspire LLC’s contract with Aspiration. Torre found no evidence that Leonard ever marketed or endorsed Aspiration, but did discover a clause between the company and Leonard’s LLC that the Clippers star could “decline to proceed with any action desired by the Company,” which allowed him to get paid for doing nothing. An additional clause said Leonard would be paid only while he was playing for the Clippers.
Despite Torre saying he found no evidence of Leonard’s relationship with Aspiration, a June 2022 tweet from the Clippers promised a tree planted for every interaction with the post in honor of Leonard’s birthday.
Leonard’s Recruitment
More details came to light about Leonard’s recruitment in October 2024, when former Clippers trainer Randy Shelton sued the team and president Lawrence Frank over multiple claims, including that he was wrongfully terminated in the summer of 2023 after voicing concerns about Leonard’s health and the organization’s handling of him.
Leonard was not named as a plaintiff or defendant in the lawsuit, though his name appears throughout. Notably, that suit also alleges that Shelton was hired by the Clippers as part of a “multi-year campaign” to recruit Leonoard that dates back all the way to 2017, when he was still with the Spurs.
Shelton, who previously worked as a performance coach at San Diego State—where Leonard played two seasons for the Aztecs—alleges that he was brought into multiple meetings with the Clippers starting in 2017 that centered on Leonard, his health, and his interest in joining the Clippers. The suit alleges Shelton was asked for “discretion” with conversations with Clippers assistant GM Mark Hughes.
According to Shelton, he and Hughes had 15 phone calls and “at least seven meetings” before Lenoard’s 2019 free agency. Hughes “repeatedly pressed for information regarding Leonard’s needs” and discussed hiring Shelton as a performance coach if Leonard signed.
That case remains ongoing. In January, the Clippers pushed for the suit to be moved to arbitration, arguing that it is required under Shelton’s employment contract with the team. A hearing on the Clippers’ motion to compel arbitration is set for Oct. 24, according to court documents.
Shelton’s attorneys—Gabriel Rishwain, Carney Shegerian, Anthony Nguyen, and John David of Shegerian & Associates—said in an emailed statement to FOS: “The NBA has a responsibility to ensure fair and ethical conduct.”
“We hope they take these matters seriously and take appropriate action to protect employees and preserve the integrity of the game,” the statement said. “However, our focus remains on the mistreatment suffered by Mr. Shelton, and we will consider any and all information as it becomes available to pursue justice for him.”
The attorneys representing the Clippers in that case did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Circumventing the Salary Cap
There is some precedent for a punishment: In October 2000, the Timberwolves lost five first-round picks and were fined $3.5 million for reaching a deal with forward Joe Smith to circumvent the salary cap.
More recently, in 2022, the NBA docked the Knicks a second-round pick for tampering with Jalen Brunson before signing him, and rescinded two second-round picks from the 76ers for tampering with P.J. Tucker and Danuel House Jr.
Leonard—who has never played more than 68 games in the regular season as a Clipper—signed a three-year, $150 million contract extension last year that will pay him $50 million this season.
Their payroll will be roughly $194.6 million for 2025–26, with the team currently sitting under the first-apron threshold by $1.3 million. For now, the Clippers have all of their first-round draft picks available to them from 2027–2032.
The Clippers are also no stranger to this type of controversy. In 2015, the team was fined $250,000 after an NBA investigation found the Clippers offered free-agent center DeAndre Jordan a third-party endorsement deal with Lexus that would have paid him $200,000 per year. The fine came a year after Ballmer paid $2 billion to buy the team from the wife of disgraced former owner Donald Sterling.
Leonard’s agent Mitch Frankel and Robertson did not immediately respond to FOS’s requests for comments.
