Adam Silver says investigation will ‘get to the bottom’ of Kawhi Leonard endorsement deal

The NBA investigation into Kawhi Leonard’s endorsement deal with now bankrupt team sponsor Aspiration — which a bombshell investigation by the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast called a “no-show” deal designed to be salary cap circumvention — is now underway. Most likely it will be months, maybe into 2026, before we have the results and any potential consequences for the Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer.

That hasn’t stopped everyone around the league from talking about the case.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, appearing Tuesday at the Sports Business Journal’s AXS DRIVE event in Los Angeles, said the league will get to the bottom of what is happening.

Silver continues to sound like a cautious lawyer in dealing with this.

Ballmer continues to express his innocence and said that again at the same event Silver was at (they did not speak at the same time). Here are highlights of the Clippers’ owners’ comments, via the Sports Business Journal.

“This is not a fun thing to be through. I was personally defrauded through our interactions with the company and some of the staff… But the important thing is, our relationship with the company and our player’s relationship with the company were independent, which is important under the rules of the NBA. I feel quite confident in that, that we abided [by] the rules. So, I welcome the investigation that the NBA is doing. It’s a great way, from our perspective, to get the facts out there…

“It’s a whole lot more fun to be highlighted for building a great arena. But this too shall pass. And like I said, I feel very good about what we did, and we welcome the NBA taking a look at it and hopefully agreeing with us.”

The basics of the case, as we know them, lay out like this: In September of 2021, Ballmer made a $50 million investment in Aspiration, a “green bank” company whose model was to plant trees to build up carbon credits, which it would in turn sell to companies that needed them. Not long after, Kawhi Leonard agreed to a four-year, $178 million max contract extension with the Clippers. Aspiration went on to become a Clippers’ sponsor in a deal reportedly worth around $300 million. The company also reached an endorsement deal with Leonard, originally for $28 million, but later another $20 million in stock was added to the agreement (that stock is now worthless), bringing Leonard’s endorsement deal to $48 million total.

The troubling point for Leonard and the Clippers is that he appeared to do no work for this endorsement money, which is why it was described as a “no-show” job. There is no evidence that he did any marketing or other promotional work for the company, nor did he even post on social media about the company. While the company’s former CEO said the contract had work requirements, none of that work is evident. That smells fishy.

Two other things seem hard to explain. By December 2022, Aspiration was struggling to make payroll and stay in business. They were under investigation and were also late on a $1.75 million payment due to Leonard. That’s when Clippers minority owner Dennis Wong made a $2 million investment in the company, and nine days later, Leonard was paid. Then, in March of 2023, Ballmer stepped in and made another $10 million investment in Aspiration, seeming to throw good money after bad.

Silver said previously that the burden of proof is on the NBA, the organization making the accusation, not on the Clippers (even though a lot of people around the league think the tsunami of circumstantial evidence against the Clippers shifts at least some of the burden onto them). Ballmer has consistently and vehemently denied any wrongdoing by himself or the Clippers, saying there is a separation between the team’s deal with Aspiration and the company’s endorsement deal with Leonard.

For now, everyone is waiting on the league’s investigation (being done by an outside law firm). That hasn’t stopped everyone from talking about what is going to happen next.