On Monday, the Los Angeles Clippers will hold their annual media day in preparation for the upcoming 2025-26 season, and one topic that is sure to be brought up by the press is the ongoing investigation into the team by the NBA. The investigation stems from allegations made by sports reporter Pablo Torre that the Clippers signed Kawhi Leonard to a no-show deal with the company Aspiration, now bankrupt, in an attempt to circumvent the NBA salary cap.
Recently, Torre provided more evidence that indicated that the Clippers were well aware of the deal between Leonard and Aspiration.
“NEW: Texts show Kawhi's agent pushed for $28M ‘no-show' payday while insiders say Aspiration's founder guaranteed another $20M in equity,” reported Pablo Torre Finds Out on X, formerly Twitter.
“There's no way the Clippers didn't know about this deal,” said one former team official, per Torre.
A huge scandal for the Clippers
Things are sure to get awkward quickly for the Los Angeles Clippers at Monday's media day as they will inevitably face questions about the scandal and whether or not they truly had anything to do with it.
The NBA has already announced its own formal investigation into Torre's claims, which have continued to stack up in recent weeks. On Monday, Torre reported that Ballmer continued donating money to Apsiration co-founder Joe Sanberg months after he claimed he was defrauded by the company, seemingly contradicting those claims of fraud in the first place.
If the Clippers are found by the NBA to have committed wrongdoing, the consequences could be dire, with potential hefty fines, suspensions, and first round draft picks already having been set as a precedent for this kind of activity by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the late 1990s.
Making matters even worse for Los Angeles is that the Leonard experiment has been a disastrous one so far, with the star never stepping foot on the court outside the second round during his time with the Clippers.
In any case, the Clippers will kick off their 2025-26 season on October 22 on the road against the Utah Jazz.
