A lot has been made about the Kawhi Leonard-Aspiration saga, and how it ties to the Los Angeles Clippers’ majority owner Steve Ballmer. The NBA is currently investigating the series of developments exposed by journalist Pablo Torre, and some expect major action to be taken against the franchise.
A number of people, including ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, believed that the Clippers’ media day in LA would provide some sort of answers, considering it was Kawhi’s first public interview since the allegations broke out. However, Shelburne revealed that someone from the Clippers PR team “reached out and grabbed the mic” when she asked a question about the controversy.
Ramona Shelburne says Clippers PR personnel grabbed the mic away from her on media day after she questioned Kawhi about Aspiration. Said there were 5 or 6 other reporters there that had planned to ask more Aspiration related questions, but were not called on before Kawhi was… pic.twitter.com/hwnxKzZOMo
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) October 2, 2025
“Yeah. It was like, “Okay, you're done now.” And then it went to a team reporter, a team TV reporter who asked about being healthy during the offseason. And then the next one was like the team radio person and they asked another question that was more basketball related, right?” she said on ESPN LA, per a post on r/NBA.
The 46-year-old revealed how The Athletic’s Law Murray then proceeded to ask how the controversy was not a “distraction” for Leonard. However, the six-time All-Star “gave a whatever kind of answer to that and then he was done,” per Shelburne.
The insider revealed how she and a group of other journalists, including Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, Beth Harris from The Associated Press, Steve Henson from the Los Angeles Times, and Janis Carr from the Orange County Register had already agreed on asking Aspiration-related questions during the event.
“Because this is his first public statement, let's tag team. Listen to whatever everybody else asks and let's make sure we cover all the bases here because this is the, probably the one and only time he'll address it. And they, they all had their hands raised and they weren't being called on,” Shelburne said, effectively claiming that the Clippers ensured their biggest superstar would not be asked difficult questions about the controversy that has consistently dominated headlines.
As things stand, the NBA is in the middle of its investigation, with Leonard stating in his statement that neither he nor the Clippers had engaged in any wrongdoing. The Klaw claimed that Aspiration had gone “belly up,” and that it was a simple case of “fraud” despite the seemingly overwhelming evidence that says otherwise.
