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New Details Surface Amid Ongoing Kawhi Leonard, Clippers Investigation

New details have emerged amid an ongoing investigation into the LA Clippers and Kawhi Leonard
Matt Guzman|
Apr 24, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) moves the ball up court against the Denver Nuggets during the second half of Game 3 in the first round for the 2024 NBA Playoffs at Intuit Dome.
Apr 24, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) moves the ball up court against the Denver Nuggets during the second half of Game 3 in the first round for the 2024 NBA Playoffs at Intuit Dome. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

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Los Angeles Clippers

As the NBA's formal investigation into the LA Clippers and Kawhi Leonard regarding a salary cap scheme involving team owner Steve Ballmer and environmental start-up Aspiration continues, new details have surfaced.

Reported by ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, Aspiration bid nearly double the $550 million that earned Intuit the naming rights for the Clippers' new arena.

"The Clippers chose to go with the more well-established company & brand," Shelburne wrote.

Had the Clippers chosen Aspiration, the company's eventual bankruptcy would have created a much larger public issue, though that is contingent on the allegations being proven false. Regarding the investigation, the Clippers have maintained their stance of innocence.

"The Clippers take NBA compliance extremely seriously," a team statement read. "The Clippers will also continue to cooperate with law enforcement in its investigation into Aspiration's blatantly fraudulent activity."

Ballmer, for one, made sure his hands were washed.

"I made an investment in these guys thinking it was on the up-and-up," Ballmer said during an exclusive interview with ESPN, "and they conned me at this stage. I have no ability to predict why they might have done anything they did, let alone the specific contract with Kawhi."

Potential Punishment for Clippers, Leonard

According to Section 3 of Article XIII of the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, which details the ‘Penalties’ within the section that covers salary cap circumvention, any team that violates league rules for a first time, as well as the player, could face the following punishments:

  • A fine of up to $7.5 million.
  • The “direct forfeiture of draft picks.”
  • The voiding of the player’s contract, “or any Renegotiation, Extension, or amendment of a Player Contract, between such player and such Team.”
  • A fine of up to $350,000 for the player.
  • A suspension for up to one year for “any Team personnel found to have willfully engaged in such violation.”
  • The voiding of any transaction or agreement found to have violated league rules, and the forced forfeiture of funds received in the deal “unless the player establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that he was unaware of the violation.”

While no conclusion has been reached, the Clippers still have work to do to repair their image, even if Aspiration was independently at fault for Leonard's "no-show" contract.

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Matt Guzman
MATT GUZMAN

Matt Guzman is a sports journalist and storyteller from Austin, Texas. He serves as a credentialed reporter and site manager for San Antonio Spurs On SI and a staff writer for multiple collegiate sites in the same network. In the world of professional sports, he is a firm believer that athletes are people, too, and intends to tell stories of players and teams’ true, behind-the-scenes character that otherwise would not be seen through strong narrative writing, hooking ledes and passionate words.

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