NBA Champion Claims 'Players Don't Care' Kawhi Leonard Received Extra $28 Million

NBA Champion Richard Jefferson explained why players don't care about Kawhi's alleged no-show endorsement deal

Sep 29, 2025; Inglewood, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) poses during media day at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Athletic’s Pablo Torre opened one of the deepest cans of worms in recent sports memory with his exposé of Los Angeles Clippers’ star Kawhi Leonard’s alleged under-the-table no-show job with Aspiration, an environmental company that received significant financial investment from team owner Steve Ballmer. 

The initial reporting, subsequent denial by the Clippers, and then further corroboration by Torre have made the organization look far from innocent during the saga. Leonard attempted to clear the air at Clippers Media Day last week, essentially insinuating that he had performed services for the company and that they hadn’t paid him in full.

“I don't do conspiracies, theories or anything like that,” Leonard said. “So, it's about the season and what we got ahead of us right now … the NBA is going to do their job. None of us did any wrongdoing.I mean, that's it. We invite the investigations. It's not going to be a distraction for me or the rest of the team.”

Regardless, the overwhelming sentiment from fans has been largely critical of the Clippers. Executives around the league also took exception, with some reportedly signaling to the league that their franchises would also seek to circumvent the salary cap by investing in companies to pay their players no-show endorsement deals. 

Opinions From Players

Perhaps unsurprisingly, according to former NBA champion Richard Jefferson, players around the league aren’t too miffed by the fact that Leonard received an extra $28 million for an alleged no-show endorsement deal. Conventional wisdom suggests that those players now see their own opportunity to collect a paycheck, or some may even have similar arrangements themselves.

“You can go to the players and say, ’What are your thoughts?’, Jefferson said, “Collectively? None of us can care that someone else got another 28 million. I'm mad that it wasn't me. We ain't heard no players complaining. We thought this is an unfair advantage, and with the league, players have shown zero outrage.”

Richard Jefferson reveals that players from across the NBA do not care if Kawhi Leonard did get paid an additional $28M under the table:

“Collectively, none of us care if someone got an extra $28M. I’m mad that it wasn’t me! … Players have shown zero outrage.”

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— APHoops (@APH00PS) October 7, 2025

Jefferson further defended the idea that, while circumventing the cap is illegal and requires a penalty, a “no-show” deal is perhaps a deserved benefit for a player whose presence delivers billions in revenue to a community while at the same time being capped to the same earnings as lesser deserving peers. 

“Don't tell me that LeBron James and we saw what he did to the Cleveland economy when he would show up and then he would leave, fon't tell me he's not worth billions to that community,” Jefferson explained. "You're going to be capped to make the same amount of money as Ja Morant. It's not baseball.”