The latest on Kawhi Leonard, Steve Ballmer and the NBA's investigation into the LA Clippers

Six months have passed since allegations first arose that the LA Clippers circumvented the NBA’s salary cap to pay star Kawhi Leonard, prompting the league to investigate.

At last week’s board of governors meeting, NBA commissioner Adam Silver did not address, and was not asked about, the investigation. But last month at All-Star weekend — hosted by the Clippers — Silver said the investigation has been “enormously complex.”

Here’s what we know — and don’t know — about the allegations and where the investigation stands:

What are the details of the investigation, and what’s the latest?

The investigation, led by the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, began in September 2025 and centers on allegations that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and the team orchestrated a $28 million endorsement deal between Leonard and Aspiration, a now-bankrupt green banking company in which Ballmer had invested, to circumvent the league’s salary cap.

The NBA investigation followed a series of reports by Pablo Torre, a podcaster and ESPN contributor, who cited internal documents that showed Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration through his personal LLC in September 2021. That month, the Clippers also signed a $300 million deal with Aspiration, making the company the “first founding partner” of the Intuit Dome.

Six months later, Aspiration signed its deal with Leonard. An unnamed employee who purportedly worked for the banking company told Torre that Leonard’s sponsorship deal “was to circumvent the salary cap.”

While Ballmer said he introduced Leonard to Aspiration, he told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne in September 2025 he had no knowledge of the deal and denied he directed the company to strike one.

Multiple sources with knowledge of the investigation said that interviews are ongoing.

Those sources say that the team from Wachtell Lipton, led by attorney David Anders — who has led other league investigations — is interviewing Clippers officials and other key figures, including former Aspiration employees with knowledge of the company’s sponsorship deal with Leonard.

It’s unclear if Leonard has yet been interviewed — or if anyone close to him has, either.

“Wachtell’s investigation is ongoing,” said an NBA spokesperson. “There is more work to be done and no set timeline.”

It’s not unusual for investigations to take many months. In 2021, the league asked Wachtell Lipton to conduct an investigation into the Phoenix Suns and then-owner Robert Sarver following a November 2021 ESPN story detailing allegations of racism and misogyny during Sarver’s 17 years as owner.

Anders also led that investigation, and Wachtell Lipton interviewed 320 people and reviewed more than 80,000 pages of emails, text messages and other documents.

The findings from that investigation weren’t announced until September 2022 — 10 months after the investigation was first launched.

Silver addressed the complexity of the Clippers investigation at All-Star Weekend: “You have a company in bankruptcy. You have thousands of documents, multiple witnesses that have been needed to be interviewed.”

He also said, “From everything I’ve been told, the Clippers have been fully cooperative.”

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What happens after Wachtell Lipton brings its findings back to the league office?

As it relates to potential salary cap circumvention, and depending on the findings, Silver is not solely responsible for deciding whether the Clippers will be punished, per the terms of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement.

Rather, Wachtell Lipton will present its findings to the league office, and Silver will decide whether to bring the firm’s findings to a neutral arbitrator appointed by the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association.

The arbitrator would then examine what Silver brought forth and decide the next step. The arbitrator could either grant Silver the authority to punish the Clippers or decide that there isn’t enough evidence to merit any discipline and deny him the ability to levy penalties against the team.

“The burden is on the league if we’re going to discipline a team, an owner, a player or any constituent members of the league,” Silver told reporters following the league’s board of governors meetings in Midtown Manhattan in mid-September 2025. “I think as with any process that requires a fundamental sense of fairness, the burden should be on the party that is, in essence, bringing those charges.”

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How have those involved in the investigation responded to the allegations?

The allegations and subsequent investigation have cast a cloud over the Clippers franchise, but the team’s leadership hasn’t wavered from its initial public denials.

In September 2025, following Torre’s report, Ballmer appeared on ESPN to deny he had knowledge of the endorsement contract the sides eventually signed, or that he directed the company to do so. Ballmer also said in his interview that he would welcome an investigation.

Later that same month, Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank made similar remarks at the Clippers’ media day.

“We are glad there’s an investigation, and we welcome it,” Frank said. “We appreciate that there’ll be a clear-eyed look at these allegations, and we’re eager for the truth to come out. The assumptions and conclusions that have been made are disappointing and upsetting, and we expect the investigation will show that these allegations are wrong.”

Leonard also addressed the matter during media day in September 2025.

He dismissed the allegations, adding, “The NBA is going to do their job. None of us did [any] wrongdoing. That’s it. We invite the investigations. It’s not going to be a distraction for me or the rest of the team.”

“The Clippers continue to cooperate with the league’s investigation and look forward to a resolution of this matter,” the Clippers told ESPN in a statement this week.

In a September 2025 statement posted to X, Aspiration co-founder and former CEO Andrei Cherny also denied the allegations of salary cap circumvention, saying Leonard’s contract had “three pages of extensive obligations,” and that he signed the contract following “numerous internal conversations about the various things Aspiration was planning to do with Leonard.”

But in response to Cherny’s statement, three former Aspiration executives who reported to him released a statement of their own, which was obtained by Torre.

That statement was from Rojeh Avanesian, Aspiration’s former chief financial officer; Mike Shuckerow, Aspiration’s former chief operating officer; and Eric Anderson, Aspiration’s former chief technology officer.

The executives said they didn’t agree with the company’s decision to sign the Leonard deal.

“The team expressed concerns at the time regarding the high cost of the arrangement and its lack of alignment with Aspiration’s brand and business strategy,” they said in the statement. “While subsequent marketing efforts were undertaken, they were ultimately discontinued and should not be interpreted as support for the deal itself.”

They continued, “In our judgement, the Leonard Deal was not in the company’s best interest. It was strategically difficult to justify then, and it remains so today.”

Cherny declined to comment for this story.

Also as a result of Torre’s reporting, Ballmer has been named in a lawsuit filed by 11 former Aspiration investors who say they were defrauded out of millions by co-founder Joseph Sanberg and others at the company. Ballmer was added to the lawsuit, initially filed in July 2025, in November 2025, with investors alleging he participated in the fraud by funneling money to Leonard.

A hearing for the suit is scheduled for April 22 at Los Angeles County Superior Court in downtown Los Angeles. Ballmer’s attorneys have asked the court to determine that the investors failed to allege facts sufficient enough to state a legal claim, and for the case to be dismissed.

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What do we know about how Leonard’s contract with Aspiration came about?

Ballmer told ESPN last year that “[Aspiration] did request to be introduced to Kawhi, and under the rules, we can introduce our sponsors to our athletes. We just can’t be involved. We made an introduction. That was in early November [2021].”

Aspiration, which was founded in 2013 and drew backers including Robert Downey Jr., Orlando Bloom, and Leonardo DiCaprio, had announced in August 2021 that it intended to go public via a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), a deal that would’ve valued the company at $2.3 billion and infused more than $400 million in cash.

But by 2022, Shuckerow, Aspiration’s former chief operating officer who says he is not a whistleblower to any government agency about Aspiration, told ESPN that spending had become a problem at the company.

He said Aspiration had made expensive investments in carbon projects in Brazil and elsewhere, hired in nonrevenue areas and accrued expenses tied to sponsorship deals, including brand deals with the Clippers, Athletes Unlimited and the Boston Red Sox.

Shuckerow said that preserving some of the company’s major investor relationships took on greater importance — including with Ballmer, one of the 15 wealthiest people in the world — which he said Sanberg conveyed to the members of the executive team.

Shuckerow said the entities that Ballmer oversaw — including the Clippers and the Intuit Dome — had become critical to Sanberg and Cherny not only for Ballmer’s continued investment but for the credibility that Aspiration needed in its pursuit of going public.

“It was made clear to the corporate side of the house that the Ballmer ecosystem was a priority,” Shuckerow said.

Another high-level former Aspiration executive told ESPN that Sanberg also told colleagues the Clippers were looking to raise Leonard’s public profile, which could lead to more endorsements for him. That executive also said Sanberg said the deal could lead to more business between Aspiration and the Clippers. The executive said there was never any mention of the salary cap or attempts to circumvent it, and that they never heard Sanberg’s sentiment from Clippers officials.

A source close to the Clippers with knowledge of the investigation said, “As is clear from (Sanberg’s) guilty plea, this desperate admitted felon would say anything while struggling to keep his company afloat.”

Sanberg’s attorney didn’t return a request seeking comment.

Shuckerow also said that some company executives expressed opposition at the initial size of Leonard’s deal — $28 million, plus $20 million in equity in cash. (In one text message exchange between Aspiration executives, reviewed by ESPN, one executive described calling a “Hail Mary” to contact Sanberg about the deal while noting that it “likely won’t do anything.”)

Shuckerow said that, in response to the opposition, Sanberg told other executives that he’d give Leonard $20 million of his personal equity in the company. The deal was signed in April 2022. In their joint statement, the three former executives said the deal “was presented to the company as a completed arrangement and executed by Mr. Cherny despite significant objections from members of this senior management team.”

It did not reflect any strategy previously communicated to us, nor was it reviewed through Aspiration’s Investment Committee process.”

In one email exchange from June 2022 that was obtained by ESPN, an Aspiration marketing official said there were “some pretty big flags” in the agreement. (The Wall Street Journal first reported about the emails in October.)

“Specifically, we should be getting way more than one 8-hr. production day for the price that we are paying,” the official wrote. “Second, Kawhi’s lack of social media accounts will significantly hamper our ability to deliver meaningful media value on this campaign. As currently written, Aspiration will need to make a big investment in paid media for this content to get any visibility.”

In hindsight, the high-level Aspiration executive who spoke to ESPN said that the process “could’ve been handled better.”

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What does Leonard’s contract with Aspiration actually say?

ESPN obtained a 19-page contract between Leonard and Aspiration, signed in April 2022, which details several pages of obligations for Leonard. Among them were commitments including autograph signings, community service events, promotional and public appearances and an annual eight-hour day of filming.

Aspiration had the right to terminate the contract if Leonard no longer played for the Clippers. The contract also includes a so-called “beliefs” clause, which stipulates that Leonard “may decline to proceed with any action desired by the Company under Section 3.2 if Leonard believes that such proposed actions are not consistent with his beliefs.”

The beliefs clause became a focus of both Torre’s reporting and other commentary about the Clippers-Aspiration allegations.

It’s unclear if Leonard or the Clippers had any other contracts or agreements with Aspiration.

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What do league insiders think of Leonard’s contract?

ESPN showed five player agents who don’t represent Leonard language in Leonard’s endorsement contract pertaining to obligations and termination clauses. ESPN also showed the same language to an NBPA source who is familiar with such contracts.

Said one agent, “This is standard. Nothing unusual here.”

Said another, “There’s nothing in there that jumps out to me. Everything is pretty standard.”

A third agent made similar comments.

Two additional agents singled out the “beliefs” clause, with one saying, “I’ve never seen a player have the right to decline to do something due to ‘beliefs.’ A good lawyer would have at least said bonafide ‘religious’ beliefs.”

Another, the fifth agent, made a similar remark, adding that it could represent an “amazing negotiation and/or an inexperienced lawyer on behalf of Aspiration.”

The NBPA source told ESPN that “there is nothing in that contract that is inconsistent with the regular course of business. The only thing that stands out is that language that says ‘consistent with his beliefs, which is too broad and too vague. And that is really just a question of good negotiation. If a lawyer said, ‘Look, we want to have this language as broad as possible because we can’t sit here today and envision all the promotional activities you may be asking Kawhi to do,’ and if the lawyer for Aspiration is stupid enough to say, OK, we’ll allow that,’ then that’s just good negotiation by Kawhi’s team. But there’s nothing on the face of that contract that suggests that this was all orchestrated.”

The NBPA source then said that while the language in the “beliefs” provision is certainly favorable to Leonard, the source also pointed out that Aspiration wasn’t a well-managed company and that it ultimately went bankrupt.

The five agents separately echoed the NBPA source’s point that while aspects of the contract may be favorable to Leonard, there appears to be nothing in the deal itself that suggests that Leonard’s deal was orchestrated in such a way as to circumvent the NBA’s salary cap.

In his September 2025 post on X, Cherny defended the “beliefs” clause. “The ‘beliefs’ provision is not unusual in celebrity endorsements and merely means we can’t do something like make a vegetarian eat meat as a way of forcing them to break the contract,” he wrote in his September post. “It doesn’t mean you can have a ‘belief’ of not talking to a camera.”

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Did Leonard fulfill any of those obligations?

In the summer of 2022, Variety reported that Aspiration partnered with Creative Artists Agency to “provide sustainability services, carbon reduction services and customer-centric climate impact solutions to corporate, sports and entertainment industry brands.”

The agency helped develop a list of potential ideas for Leonard to be involved with Aspiration, which they sent to the company that summer, after Leonard had signed the deal, according to an email obtained by ESPN.

“To launch Aspiration’s new partnership with Kawhi Leonard, the team has developed initial concepts for how the two can partner for maximum impact of his service days and to amplify the partnership in a unique way that drives the topics Aspiration cares about,” the email stated.

One involved partnering with the musician Drake, another Aspiration partner; another focused on tracing Leonard’s carbon footprint; another imagined Leonard working with local schools for efforts involving environmental sustainability.

The high-level Aspiration executive told ESPN that company marketing officials discussed various obligations with Leonard’s camp in the fall of 2022, including community activities and media/filming.

Shuckerow said he alerted the marketing staff in 2022 that the company had unused assets in the Leonard deal and suggested they at least target the “low-hanging fruit” such as autographed memorabilia. Shuckerow said he wasn’t sure if marketing staff or any Aspiration officials contacted the Clippers or Leonard about such efforts.

A source with knowledge of Leonard’s schedule said that Leonard’s camp was in talks with Aspiration about executing some obligations, including community appearances, adding that nothing was set in stone because the two sides were working around both Leonard’s schedule — especially as he continued to rehab his surgically repaired right knee — and the Clippers’ schedule.

At the same time, change was also occurring within the company. In October 2022, Aspiration parted ways with Cherny, and Olivia Albrecht became its new CEO.

Leonard returned from injury in December 2022. That same month, Aspiration laid off roughly 100 employees.

Also in December 2022, according to Torre’s reporting, Clippers limited partner Dennis J. Wong invested $1.99 million in Aspiration, nine days before the company made an overdue $1.75 million payment to Leonard.

Ultimately, Leonard didn’t appear in any of the discussed marketing activations for the company.

“I have no reason to believe that Kawhi wouldn’t have done something if we asked,” Shuckerow said. “I don’t know if we ever got to the stage where something got far enough in the strategy stage where we actually asked him for a concrete ask.”

In March 2023, Ballmer invested an additional $10 million in Aspiration in a funding round that included previous company investors, The Athletic reported last year, in what one source with knowledge of Ballmer’s intentions called a show of good faith in both Albrecht and the company’s new direction.

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Were there any public links between Leonard and Aspiration?

The high-level Aspiration executive who spoke to ESPN said the company discussed an Aspiration-themed Leonard bobblehead that the Clippers would release during the 2022-23 season.

A source with knowledge of the deal said the item was part of the Clippers’ deal with Aspiration, and not Leonard’s.

While the bobblehead was in production in late 2022, Aspiration officials contacted the Clippers and requested that the company’s name be taken off the bobblehead because it was a plastic item, which ran counter to Aspiration’s climate-focused mission, the source said.

The Aspiration name was subsequently removed from the bobbleheads’ packaging and all promotional material, but because the bobbleheads had already been produced, the Aspiration name couldn’t be removed from the bobbleheads themselves, the source said.

The bobblehead was released, as planned, to the first 10,000 fans at the Clippers-Thunder game in late March 2023, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

“Bobblehead production follows a consistent timeline each season, which begins in late summer. The bobbleheads are commonly tied to sponsorship agreements, and in the 2022-23 season, included partners such as Cedars-Sinai, Kia and AT&T,” the Clippers told ESPN. “The Kawhi bobblehead was handled in the same way, part of a sponsorship activation that included Aspiration, similar to others players’ bobbleheads that year.”

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What happened with Aspiration?

A source with knowledge of the matter told ESPN that the Clippers terminated their agreement with Aspiration in May 2023 because the company breached its contract with the team by defaulting on payments.

The Clippers continued posting a series of happy birthday messages to their players and staff on social media that referenced the company in 2023. The posts were part of a social media schedule for that season, according to the source with knowledge of the matter. The final such post on X came on June 29, 2023, when the Clippers posted a happy birthday for Leonard and referenced Aspiration in the caption.

Later that summer, in August 2023, the company that was going to take Aspiration public announced that it terminated the deal. In January 2024, Bloomberg News reported that Aspiration was the subject of a Department of Justice and Commodity Futures Trading Commission investigation into whether the company misled customers.

Aspiration filed for bankruptcy in March 2025, with a reported debt of $170 million. In bankruptcy filings, the company said it owed the Clippers $30 million, the most of its creditors, and that it owed $7 million to a limited liability company owned by Leonard.

At media day, Leonard was asked if he was still owed that figure. “I got to look back at the books,” he said, “but nah, it was more than that.”

In August 2025, Sanberg formally pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud. Federal prosecutors said he defrauded investors and lenders of more than $248 million.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 27 in federal court in Los Angeles.