The NBA continues to investigate allegations that the Los Angeles Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer circumvented the salary cap by paying Kawhi Leonard through a third-party company. However, Commissioner Adam Silver has assured that he will not make any rash decisions.
“The burden is primarily on the league to decide whether we’re going to punish a team, an owner, or a player. I think that, as with any process that requires a fundamental sense of fairness, the burden should fall on the party that, in essence, brings these allegations. I would say that, in the league’s case, we and our investigators have reviewed the totality of the evidence,” Silver said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Previously, the investigation arose shortly after journalist Pablo Torre released documents on the podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out . They indicate that Ballmer invested $50 million in the sustainability startup Aspiration in September 2021. Months later, Leonard reportedly signed a four-year, $28 million marketing contract with the company.
According to former Aspiration employees, the agreement with Leonard surpassed any other contract with the company and included unusual clauses. The forward could withdraw from all his obligations without breaking the contract, and its validity was contingent solely on his continued tenure with the Clippers.
Additionally, Leonard reportedly agreed to a second stock deal valued at an additional $20 million, bringing his total earnings from the company to $48 million. Teams like the Raptors and even the Lakers have reportedly been targets of Kawhi’s “illegal demands” over the years.
The situation became even more complicated when Aspiration filed for bankruptcy in March of this year , after co-founder Joseph Sanberg was accused of fraud and later confessed to defrauding investors of more than $248 million.
Finally, the Clippers and Ballmer deny any attempt to circumvent the salary cap with Kawhi Leonard . The billionaire claimed to have been deceived by Sanberg and declared that he had no knowledge of any personal agreements between Leonard and the startup.
On the other hand, Adam Silver reinforced that the NBA does not function as a court, but has broad authority to evaluate evidence and impose punishments.
“We won’t act merely because of the appearance of wrongdoing. We must respect basic principles of justice. The public sometimes jumps to conclusions that later prove to be false,” the commissioner emphasized.
Now, the investigation, conducted by an external office, remains ongoing, with no set deadline for completion.
Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
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