Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard Under Investigation For Potential CBA Violations
As uncovered by Pablo Torre on his show Pablo Torre Finds Out on ESPN, Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard allegedly signed a deal with the fraudulent tree planting company Aspiration back in 2021. The deal, worth $28 million, with $7 million paid for four years, allegedly said that Leonard would not have to do anything except remain with the Clippers organization to be paid by the company.
Furthermore, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer poured $50 million into the company to allegedly circumvent the salary cap. John Karalis of the Boston Sports Journal also said that Leonard got an extra $20 million in stock from the company, bringing his earnings to $48 million.
The NBA began an investigation almost immediately.
If true, this would be a violation of Article 13, Section 2 in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which prohibits agreements that are unauthorized. The penalties stated in the CBA include a fine of up to $7.5 million to the team, the revocation of draft picks, the player’s contract being void (or any renegotiations, extensions, or any potential amendments), and a suspension of no more than one year to any personnel who willingly committed the violation and/or void the transaction or agreement found to have violated section 2.
The case also ties back to Leonard’s time with the Toronto Raptors during his free agency negotiations with the team. He asked the Raptors to trade for Paul George (who, at the time, was with the Oklahoma City Thunder), a $10 million no-show sponsorship income, and shares in the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, which is owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, who also owns the Raptors, as reported by the Toronto Star.
