Ramona ShelburneSep 29, 2025, 06:42 PM ETCloseSenior writer for ESPN.comSpent seven years at the Los Angeles Daily NewsFollow on X
Kawhi: Allegations of no-show deal not accurate (0:51)Clippers star Kawhi Leonard responds to allegations he had a no-show deal with Aspiration. (0:51)
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Kawhi Leonard said he doesn’t “think it’s accurate” that he performed no services for Aspiration, the now-bankrupt green banking company and LA Clippers team sponsor with which he signed a lucrative endorsement contract.
Asked specifically by ESPN if he ever performed services for what Torre reported was a four-year, $28 million contract, Leonard said, “I don’t think it’s accurate. But it’s old. This is all new to you guys. The company went bankrupt a while ago.”
The NBA has launched an investigation into whether Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and the team violated league rules or circumvented the league’s salary cap because Ballmer and minority owner Dennis Wong were both investors in the company.
Earlier this month, Ballmer told ESPN that he introduced Leonard and Aspiration in November of 2021, three months after the Clippers had agreed to a four-year, $173 million extension with Leonard, who had torn a knee ligament during the team’s first Western Conference finals run.
Two months earlier, in September 2021, the Clippers announced a $300 million partnership with Aspiration, which included sponsorship in the team’s new arena and on its jersey patch.
NBA rules do not prohibit teams from introducing team sponsors or companies to players. But teams can’t be involved in subsequent negotiations.
Ballmer told ESPN that he did not know the details of the endorsement contract that Leonard agreed to with Aspiration. The Boston Sports Journal and Torre have subsequently reported that Leonard was also awarded $20 million in company stock.
Leonard was listed among Aspiration’s biggest creditors in bankruptcy documents. On Monday at Clippers media day, ESPN asked Leonard how much of that contract he was actually paid, as he was listed as being owed $7 million.
In his interview with ESPN, Ballmer also said that he could not explain why Aspiration would pay Leonard such a lucrative endorsement deal.
“These were guys who committed fraud,” Ballmer said. “Look, they conned me. They conned me. I made an investment in these guys thinking they were on the up-and-up, and they conned me. I have no ability to predict why they might have done anything they did, let alone the specific contract with Kawhi.”
Leonard said Monday that he welcomes the NBA investigation and is confident its findings will exonerate him.
“The NBA is going to do their job,” Leonard said. “None of us did no wrongdoing. That’s it. We invite the investigations. It’s not going to be a distraction for me or the rest of the team.”
Kawhi: Allegations of no-show deal not accurate (0:51)Clippers star Kawhi Leonard responds to allegations he had a no-show deal with Aspiration. (0:51)
Clippers star Kawhi Leonard responds to allegations he had a no-show deal with Aspiration. (0:51)
CloseSenior writer for ESPN.comSpent seven years at the Los Angeles Daily NewsFollow on X