Adam Silver Clarifies Controversial Statement on Kawhi Leonard Investigation

Over the past few days, the NBA has begun an investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers, their owner Steve Ballmer, and star Kawhi Leonard based on reports that they had circumvented the salary cap to pay their star player more money.

Exclusive: Kawhi Leonard signed a $28M endorsement deal for a "no-show job" with a fraudulent tree-planting company funded by $50M from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, according to documents obtained by @PabloTorre.

"It was to circumvent the salary cap," an inside source says. pic.twitter.com/F6z5pNEkI1
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) September 3, 2025

The report stated that Leonard and the company in question, Aspiration, had an endorsement deal that paid him $28 million, but he never publicly endorsed the company. The company was also funded by Ballmer, who invested $50 million into them, which is why the idea of circumventing the salary cap was brought up.

What The Commissioner Had To Say Originally

When NBA commissioner Adam Silver heard about this, he publicly addressed it at a press conference in front of the NBA Board of Governors.

After the 9/10 NBA owners meeting, Adam Silver said: “I’d frankly never heard of the company Aspiration before. And I’d never heard a whiff of anything around an endorsement deal with Kawhi, or anything around engagement with the Los Angeles Clippers. So it was all new to me.” 🧵 pic.twitter.com/xfpcAYRbX8
— Pablo Torre 🕳️ (@PabloTorre) September 16, 2025

His first comments suggested that he had never heard of Aspiration before, and that he was taking in the information at the same time the public was.

He mentioned several other aspects in the press conference, such as talking about their process of investigating, how they decided to start an investigation, and how they're treating the entire situation as a whole.

What The Commissioner Has To Say Now

Aug 10, 2024; Paris, France; NBA commissioner Adam Silver and FIFA president Gianni Infantino look on in the first half in the men's basketball gold medal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

A few days later, Silver, who had explicitly said he "frankly never heard of the company Aspiration before," came out and said something completely contradictory. This happened while at the Tuned In Summit, an event hosted by Front Office Sports.

"(Ballmer) has said, that you have said you hadn't heard of Aspiration before, but a $300 million deal with the team -- you know the (company) was going to be a jersey patch sponsor," the moderator shared. "They had Aspiration on the back of the courtside seats."

And then Silver interrupted, "Just to be clear -- I said I never heard of it — I meant in the context of the accusations there. I was certainly aware of the brand.” Many were confused as to why Silver hadn't heard of the company, but the commissioner cleared it up by making sure fans and media knew it was the accusations he wasn't aware of.

Adam Silver walks back his comments about not knowing about Aspiration’s existence 😬

“I said I never heard of it — I meant in the context of the accusations there. I was certainly aware of the brand.”

(via @FOS, h/t @MrBuckBuckNBA)pic.twitter.com/UeC0SiIAP9
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) September 17, 2025

The host then brought up some tweets by original investigator Pablo Torre, which both men nodded their heads to.

The information is still coming out daily, and a verdict has not yet been given. The NBA season starts soon in late October, and the parties involved will have to try to focus on the basketball ahead of them while a potential punishment looms over them.

What The Commissioner Had To Say Originally

What The Commissioner Has To Say Now

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