Kawhi Leonard has been interviewed as the NBA continues its investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers’ alleged circumvention of the salary cap circumvention to pay its star player, ESPN reported Friday.
Leonard’s uncle and business adviser Dennis Robertson, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, other team executives as well as executives from the now-defunct Aspiration have also been interviewed, ESPN reported.
According to a document obtained by ESPN contributor Pablo Torre and reportedly signed by Clippers free agent signing Kawhi Leonard, the six-time NBA All-Star was to receive $28 million in cash from Aspiration over the course of four years between 2022 and 2025, as long as he was playing for the Clippers.
Included in that Torre report was the fact that Ballmer gave $50 million in funding in 2021 to the sustainability business Aspiration, which has faced accusations of fraud and whose co-founder, Joseph Sanberg, agreed to plead guilty in August to defrauding multiple investors. The Clippers also signed a $300 million deal with Aspiration in September 2021, which made the business the “first founding partner” of the Intuit Dome.
The investigation has been ongoing since September, with NBA commissioner Adam SIlver saying Wednesday night ahead of Game 1 of the NBA Finals that the league is reaching a point where the investigation needs to be wrapped up.
Ballmer and the Clippers organization have consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Under the NBA’s current collective bargaining agreement, penalties if a team is found to have circumvented the salary cap could include a fine of up to $7.5 million, loss of draft picks, the voiding of that player’s contract and/or suspensions for any team personnel found to have been involved in the wrongdoing.
According to the ESPN report, there would likely be pushback from other teams if the NBA punishes the Clippers without obvious evidence.
“I certainly hear and read things all the time about the perception of what really happened or didn’t happen here, and I think my only reaction is: I wouldn’t be doing my job if ultimately I issued a determination based on perception,” Silver said Wednesday.
“My job is to follow the facts. What essentially happens here is that the factual report, together with findings, will be made by this independent firm. That’s presented to me. It’s then, ultimately, my role to determine what the appropriate discipline, if any, should be meted out based on their findings.”
