The Los Angeles Clippers find themselves in the middle of an investigation from the NBA after a report came out alleging that governor Steve Ballmer made under-the-table payments to star player Kawhi Leonard amounting to up to $28 million. This allegation states that Ballmer was paying Leonard via a “no-show job” on an endorsement deal with now-bankrupt company Aspiration.
These allegations were serious enough to catch the eye of the NBA, with many around the association reportedly urging the league office to dig deep in their investigation. Be that as it may, the Clippers' majority owner defended himself and said that he wouldn't know anything about Leonard's dealings with Aspiration even though he was the one to introduce the two parties.
“I have not [spoken to Leonard about the allegations], no. It's really his business with Aspiration, so I wouldn't ask about it, no,” Ballmer told ESPN's Ramona Shelburne in an appearance on SportsCenter.
"It's really his business with Aspiration, so I wouldn't ask about it no."
Steve Ballmer says he hasn't been in contact with Kawhi Leonard 🗣️
(via @espn)pic.twitter.com/RA5WqOyRKq
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 5, 2025
It is plausible that Ballmer and the Clippers' hands are clean, seeing as the evidence tying them to the cap circumvention they're purportedly guilty of is merely circumstantial.
According to whistleblower Pablo Torre, who reported the allegations on his podcast, Ballmer invested a lump sum into Aspiration and that now-bankrupt company proceeded to pay Leonard $28 million to do nothing.
This reportedly happened around the time when Leonard re-upped with the Clippers on a new, four-year, $176 million deal back in August 2021 while he was rehabbing from the torn ACL he suffered during the 2021 NBA playoffs.
As Shams Charania of ESPN pointed out, the NBA has to uncover “hard evidence” of the Clippers' cap circumvention for them to take action, perhaps stripping LA of a plethora of first-round picks in addition to other penalties.
Kawhi Leonard, Clippers on shaky ground
It would be one thing if another team and player were involved in such an investigation. But the fact that it's Leonard and the Clippers being alleged of said cap circumvention makes this very suspicious and worthy of a full-blown inspection.
Since 2019, the Clippers have stopped at nothing to show that Leonard is their one and only franchise guy. Reports have come out over the years stating that Leonard and his camp have been asking for every benefit they can from interested teams leading up to his free agency in 2019, and it seems like it's LA that has obliged at every turn.
Don't expect this investigation to be a quick one.
