Two days after commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged that it’s time for the NBA and investigators to “wrap this up,” ESPN reported Friday that independent investigators have interviewed Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, team executives, star Kawhi Leonard and Leonard’s business adviser “Uncle Dennis” Robertson in the league’s ongoing Aspiration probe.
The Clippers are under investigation for allegations of salary-cap circumvention that were initially raised in September, via reporting from the podcast, “Pablo Torre Finds Out.”
Per the report, Leonard was paid $28 million via an alleged no-show marketing deal by Aspiration, a third-party company that Ballmer had invested in. The allegations were levied in September, sparking an NBA investigation into the Clippers, which is being conducted by an independent firm and has yet to be resolved nine months later.
Adam Silver: Time for NBA, investigators to ‘wrap it up’
The lack of transparent progress on the investigation prompted questions for Silver Wednesday during his news conference prior to Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Silver acknowledged that it’s time for league and investigators to “wrap this up,” indicating that a conclusion to the investigation could be on the horizon.
“I don’t have a specific timeline on when they will be completed,” Silver said of the investigators conducting the probe. “I think it’s clear they’re far along. I think those reports are — reading all the time from people who are being interviewed by them — and I think they understand that you could keep going on and on.
“But I think we’re close to the point now where I think we need to wrap this up because you also need finality. Their team has to understand what the situation is they’re going to be operating under, and so do the other 29 teams.”
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Once investigators have conducted their probe, they’ll present their findings to Silver, who will make a determination on what, if any, discipline the league will hand down.
Steve Ballmer and the Clippers are under investigation for allegations that the team circumvented the NBA salary cap via third-party payments to Kawhi Leonard.
(Katelyn Mulcahy via Getty Images)
Ballmer, Leonard have denied wrongdoing
Ballmer has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and said after PTFO’s initial report that he had been “conned” by Aspiration. Aspirations’s co-founder, Joseph Sanberg, pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges in 2025 for his role in a scheme that prosecutors say defrauded investors of $248 million.
In an April letter to a judge overseeing Sanberg’s sentencing, Ballmer wrote that he lost his entire $60 million investment in Aspiration.
Ballmer acknowledged introducing Aspiration to Leonard in a September interview with ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, but denied any knowledge of the $28 million endorsement deal.
Leonard also denied any wrongdoing during Clippers media day in September.
“The NBA is going to do their job,” Leonard said of the league’s investigation. “None of us did no wrongdoing. That’s it.
“We invite the investigations. It’s not gonna be a distraction for me or the rest of the team.”
PTFO has since been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting that launched the investigation.
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