The NBA has launched an investigation into a claim that the Los Angeles Clippers made $28 million in secret and indirect payments to All-Star Kawhi Leonard in an effort to circumvent the league’s salary cap.
‘We are aware of this morning’s media report regarding the LA Clippers and are commencing an investigation,’ read a statement from NBA spokesman Mike Bass provided to Daily Mail.
Podcaster Pablo Torre made the claim against the Clippers this week by citing a 2025 bankruptcy filing that names the team and a company owned by Leonard under the list of creditors for Aspiration QFZ, LLC.
That bankrupt entity was a subsidiary of the fintech brand Aspiration Partners Inc., which received a $315 million investment in 2021 from affiliates of Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.
Daily Mail has obtained that bankruptcy filing from federal court in Delaware showing unsecured claims of $30 million and $7 million for the Clippers and Leonard’s company, KL2 Aspire LLC, respectively.
Furthermore, Torre claims to have contracts showing Aspiration QFZ, LLC entered into a $28 million agreement with Leonard’s company, KL2 Aspire LLC. Torre was unable to find proof that Leonard did any work for Aspiration QFZ, LLC, but claims to have found a contractual clause allowing Leonard to ‘decline to proceed with any action desired by the Company.’
Daily Mail is still working to obtain these reported contracts.
When asked on Torre’s podcast if the contracts show Leonard received $28 million from Aspiration QFZ for a no-show job, an anonymous company employee agreed.
The Los Angeles Clippers are being accused of indirectly paying star forward Kawhi Leonard (pictured) $28 million in an alleged attempt to circumvent the NBA ‘s salary cap
Daily Mail obtained a federal bankruptcy filing showing unsecured claims of $30 million and $7 million for the LA Clippers and Leonard’s company, KL2 Aspire LLC, respectively
‘It’s amazing,’ the source said, speaking through a voice modulator to disguise their voice. ‘I’m honestly so jealous. I mean, he’s got the dream.’
According to Torre, Aspiration QFZ’s alleged payments to KL2 Aspire were sent to Dennis Robertson, Leonard’s uncle and advisor, who was previously investigated by the NBA in 2019 for allegedly requesting impermissible benefits for his nephew and himself.
That 2019 investigation did not find any impermissible benefits going from the Clippers to Leonard or anyone working on his behalf.
A year later, a self-described acquaintance of Leonard and Robertson named Johnny Wilkes sued the Clippers, claiming he was still owed $2.5 million from the team for helping them to sign the former Spurs and Raptors star.
Wilkes, a self-described acquaintance of Robertson, claimed in the lawsuit that Ballmer would ‘fund a $100,000,000.00 marketing campaign for Kawhi Leonard’ and the uncle would get his own Southern California home if the All-Star forward agreed to sign with the Clippers.
That lawsuit was ultimately dismissed and neither the Clippers nor Robertson admitted to any wrongdoing.
Steve Ballmer, the Clippers owner, shares a laugh with Kawhi Leonard after the All-Star signed with the team in July of 2019. Ballmer is accused of giving impermissible payments to Leonard
As for the latest allegations, the Clippers released a statement to Torre denying any misconduct and insisting that the team was unaware of improper conduct by Aspiration Partners LLC, which came under fire as its founder Joseph Sanberg was investigated for fraud.
Sanberg pleaded guilty in federal court last month to a scheme that cost investors $248 million in losses.
‘Neither Mr. Ballmer nor the Clippers circumvented the salary cap or engaged in any misconduct related to Aspiration,’ the statement began. ‘Any contrary assertion is provably false.
‘The team ended its relationship with Aspiration years ago, during the 2022-23 season, when Aspiration defaulted on its obligations. Neither the Clippers nor Mr. Ballmer was (sic) aware of any improper activity by Aspiration or its co-founder until after the government instituted its investigation.
‘The team and Mr. Ballmer stand ready to assist law enforcement in any way they can.’
The Clippers had an agreement in 2021 with Aspiration Partners Inc. on a variety of environmental initiatives at their new stadium, the Intuit Dome.
Daily Mail has reached out for further comment to Leonard’s agent, Mitch Frankel, as well as an attorney who represented Aspiration QFZ in its bankruptcy filing. Frankel is listed as a contact for Leonard’s KL2 Aspire LLC.
The NBA previously released a statement to The Athletic in 2019 on the allegations of improper benefits paid by the Clippers to Leonard and Robertson – claims that remain unproven.
‘[NBA commissioner Adam Silver] sees salary cap circumvention as a cardinal sin in the NBA, and will always keep a watchful eye on that front,’ the statement read. ‘If any relevant evidence of improper benefits surfaces in the future, the league will re-open the investigation and pursue the charges yet again.’
The Timberwolves were caught paying Joe Smith (right) under the table in 2000, and as a result, the team was docked five first-round draft picks, two of which they later recouped
The league has come down hard in the past on teams trying to skirt salary cap rules.
Back in 2000, when Silver was still deputy commissioner under David Stern, the NBA found that the Minnesota Timberwolves circumvented cap rules to pay veteran forward Joe Smith. Then-general manager Kevin McHale was forced to take leave and owner Glen Taylor was briefly barred from having an operational involvement with the team.
But the biggest penalty came in the draft, where the Timberwolves were stripped of five first-round picks, although two were ultimately returned.
Aspiration Partners Inc. is now GreenFi following its 2024 acquisition by Mission Financial Partners.
‘The company has delivered carbon credits to the Clippers over the past several years, and based on ongoing obligations will continue to source and deliver credits annually through the last delivery in 2043,’ began a statement from the company, which Torre read on air. ‘We take our work in the climate-action category seriously.’
