On Wednesday, a bombshell report hit the NBA world alleging that Steve Ballmer, governor of the Los Angeles Clippers, was making under-the-cap payments to Kawhi Leonard via a now-bankrupt company named Aspiration. Pablo Torre, via his podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out, divulged details from an informant, stating that Leonard allegedly received $28 million to do nothing for the said bogus company.
As a result of these allegations, the NBA officially launched an investigation into the matter, as per Shams Charania of ESPN. If found guilty, the Clippers will face major consequences from the league, which could include the loss of future first-round picks and other roster-movement restrictions.
What it would take for the NBA to punish the Clippers, however, remains unclear. But Charania gave an insight as to what hard evidence the league must uncover to prove that Ballmer, Leonard, and the Clippers are guilty of salary cap circumvention.
“At the heart of it is essentially investigating whether there is hard proof that there were improper back-door payments on behalf of the Clippers or Steve Ballmer to Kawhi Leonard. There has to be hard evidence that proves that,” Charania said on SportsCenter. “Circumstantially, there's certain dots you can connect here.”
“[But] in order for the league to move forward, there has to be hard evidence that would link that there were improper payments or improper funds given on behalf of the Clippers and Steve Ballmer, not just circumstantially. We'll see as this investigation plays out what the NBA discovers, what they have proof of.”
"There has to be hard evidence that there were improper payments or improper funds given on behalf of the Clippers and Steve Ballmer, not just circumstantially."
Shams on the alleged "no show job" endorsement deal involving Kawhi Leonard.pic.twitter.com/TeIRy2DTx9
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 3, 2025
It will be difficult to find “hard evidence” linking Ballmer to making under-the-table payments to Leonard, considering that the Clippers governor wasn't born yesterday and he has billions of dollars to hire the best lawyers to make sure that his hands remain clean if he actually were guilty of such cap circumvention.
Clippers continue to show Kawhi Leonard the love
The Clippers have shown unflinching love for Leonard through the years, and this report, as unproven as it might be as of the moment, should not come as too big of a surprise to anyone.
As one would recall, the Clippers brazenly pursued Leonard during the 2018-19 season, ruffling a few feathers in the process, and they've prioritized him at every turn — giving him max contracts despite his injury problems, giving him as many rest days as possible, and overhauling the team around him. This is how star players want to be taken care of by their NBA teams these days, and Leonard has certainly been getting the god treatment from the Clippers.
