Report – Clippers skirted NBA salary cap with Kawhi Leonard payment

The LA Clippers and team owner Steve Ballmer reportedly have been accused of circumventing the NBA’s salary cap by paying $28 million to Kawhi Leonard for a “no-show job.”

Pablo Torre, a podcaster and former ESPN contributor, reported Wednesday that the Clippers paid Leonard through a now-bankrupt company owned by Ballmer.

NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement later Wednesday that the league was “aware of this morning’s media report regarding the LA Clippers and [is] commencing an investigation.”

In the latest episode of his “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast, Torre cited a trove of internal documents from the company Aspiration, which Ballmer partially funded with a $50 million investment through his personal LLC on Sept. 14, 2021.

Later that month, on Sept. 27, 2021, the Clippers announced a $300 million partnership with the now-bankrupt Aspiration, including sponsorship in the team’s new arena and on the team’s jersey patch.

According to Torre, Leonard agreed to a four-year, $28 million endorsement deal in April 2022 through his LLC, KL2 Aspire. The endorsement deal came nine months after Leonard signed a four-year, $176.3 million contract to remain with the Clippers — the maximum allowed at the time under the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement.

A clause in one of the documents purportedly obtained by Torre states that the deal between Aspiration and KL2 Aspire would be voided if Leonard left the Clippers. According to Torre, Leonard also could “decline to proceed with any action desired” by Aspiration and continue to be paid.

An unnamed employee who purportedly worked for Aspiration told Torre that the payment to Leonard “was to circumvent the salary cap.”