Explaining the Kawhi Leonard–LA Clippers salary cap scandal

The GIST: ICYMI, LA Clipper Kawhi Leonard has been the talk of the sports world amid an alleged salary cap circumvention scandal. Here’s what you need to know about this developing story, initially broken by investigative journalist Pablo Torre, including NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s first public comments on the incident. Drama-rama.

🔎 The background: Leonard won the 2019 NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors, along with his second career Finals MVP. He then entered free agency, signing with the LA Clippers (much to Raps fans’ chagrin). In 2021, environmental firm Aspiration signed a $300M long-term partnership with the Clippers following team owner Steve Ballmer’s $50M investment in the company.

• Then in 2022, Leonard signed his own four-year, $28M endorsement deal with Aspiration, a partnership that held essentially zero obligations for the NBA star.

• By March 2025, Aspiration had filed for bankruptcy, with an employee telling Torre the Leonard deal was made to “circumvent the salary cap,” which limits the max amount NBA team owners can pay players. The league is now investigating the situation.

📰 The latest: Yesterday, a new Torre report claimed that the Clippers’ only minority owner (who just so happens to be Ballmer’s former Harvard roommate) wired $2M to Aspiration in 2022 when the company was running out of money. Almost immediately following that transfer, Aspiration paid Leonard $1.75M — and then laid off 20% of their staff.

• The plot had already thickened on Tuesday when the Toronto Star reported that Leonard’s team sought a similar financial deal from the Raptors in 2019, with the six-time All-Star’s uncle and advisor Dennis Robertson asking for at least $10M in “no-show endorsements,” like the Aspiration one, for his nephew. Truly wild.

⚖️ Why this investigation matters: NBA owners can pay their players more than the salary cap permits, but in return, the team is penalized and must pay a luxury tax, which was created to discourage excessive spending. Silver considers salary cap circumvention a “cardinal sin” and on Wednesday reiterated that if the Clippers broke the rules, they will be punished. Needless to say, we’ll be watching.