The latest entry into the Kawhi Leonard cap circumvention saga has arrived. When Clippers owner Steve Ballmer did an interview with ESPN, he denied any wrongdoing, and disputed the fact that he arranged a “no-show” endorsement deal between Leonard and the now-bankrupt company Aspiration.
Ballmer also said in that interview that Aspiration was the one to reach out about doing an endorsement deal with Leonard, saying, “At that time, we hadn’t introduced Kawhi to Aspiration. We were done with Kawhi. We were done with Aspiration. The deals were all locked and loaded. Then they did ask to be introduced to Kawhi. Under the rules, we can introduce our sponsors to our athletes. We just can’t be involved. We made an introduction.”
However, a report from The Wall Street Journal contradicts Ballmer’s claim that Aspiration reached out for a deal with Leonard.
“In December 2021, Sanberg told a high-ranking Aspiration executive that the Clippers had approached him about doing a deal with Leonard, their injured star. The executive recalled Sanberg saying: ‘This is important to the Clippers.'”
The deal was pushed through by Aspiration co-founder Joe Sanberg despite disagreement from executives within the company, with one executive saying, “…You can’t just commit to a $48M spend without talking to people in the company. I don’t get it.”
Another executive said committing that much money to Leonard didn’t make sense because, “Kawhi is a regional star. He doesn’t have the charisma of a Steph Curry, LeBron [James] etc.”
By the WSJ’s reporting, the fact that the Clippers approached Aspiration about a deal with Leonard directly contradicts Ballmer’s comments. And it will almost certainly raise some eyebrows in the league office as the NBA continue its investigation.
The investigation stems from a March 2025 bankruptcy filing of Aspiration, which received $50 million in funding from Ballmer. According to the reporting from investigative journalist Pablo Torre, Leonard received a four-year, $48 million deal from Aspiration, but did essentially no promotion work in return. The league is investigating to see if this “no-show” deal was used to funnel money to Leonard in a way to circumvent the salary cap.
The NBA hired New York-based law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct the investigation. It’s unclear how long this investigation will take, or what punishment — if any — will come of it. But if the league deems that the Clippers did circumvent the salary cap with this endorsement deal, then a variety of penalties could be levied upon the Clippers. Los Angeles could receive monetary fines, loss of draft picks, or in the most extreme case, Leonard’s contract with the team could be voided, which would make him a free agent.
