Report: Kawhi Leonard Paid From Aspiration Funds Days After Minority Owner’s Investment as Company Struggled
Fox News report says Aspiration paid $1.75 million to Leonard shortly after a nearly $2 million injection from Clippers minority owner Dennis J. Wong; NBA is investigating whether the arrangement circumvents salary-cap rules.
Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard received a $1.75 million payment from environmental-services firm Aspiration Partners Inc. days after minority Clippers owner Dennis J. Wong made an investment in the company, according to a Fox News report that cites a sports podcast and corporate filings.
Fox News reported that Aspiration, which later filed for bankruptcy, was running out of cash in December 2022, laying off employees including some executives, even as it paid Leonard under what the outlet described as a "no-show job" arrangement. The payment reportedly matched the amount required under an endorsement contract between Leonard and the company and came shortly after Wong’s near-$2 million investment, the report said.
The arrangement and payments have drawn scrutiny from the NBA, which announced last week that it has hired an outside firm to investigate a reported $28 million endorsement agreement tied to Leonard and Aspiration. The league said it will determine whether the contract was structured to circumvent the NBA’s salary-cap rules.
Aspiration’s bankruptcy filings listed multiple creditors, including the Clippers, who were owed about $30 million, and an entity called KL2 Aspire LLC, listed as owed $7 million. California corporate filings show Kawhi Leonard as the manager of KL2 Aspire; the initials and number correspond to his name and jersey number. Aspiration’s Chapter 11 petition and related filings provided some of the public record for the report.
The Fox News story attributes details about the timing of the payment and the Wong investment to sports reporter Pablo Torre, who discussed the matter on his podcast. The report said Aspiration paid Leonard $1.75 million that fulfilled the specific endorsement payment requirement even as the firm was reducing staff and cutting costs.
Clippers majority owner Steve Ballmer previously invested in Aspiration and the team announced a separate, larger commercial partnership with the company. Ballmer made a roughly $50 million investment in Aspiration and the organization announced a $300 million partnership with the company in September 2021, about a month after Leonard signed a four-year, $176 million contract extension with the Clippers.
Ballmer has denied any impropriety and said the team acted properly. "We did things by the book," Ballmer told ESPN. He attended an NBA board of governors meeting where the matter was discussed, league officials said.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league would wait for the outside firm’s report before taking further action. "We’re constantly learning in the league office and again, I’m reserving judgment because I don’t know the facts here," Silver said after the meeting. "I don’t know what Kawhi was paid. I don’t know what he did or didn’t do. We’ll leave all that for the investigation."
Aspiration’s financial troubles and the publicity surrounding its endorsement deal with Leonard have raised questions about whether personal payments tied to team owners or affiliates might be used to circumvent collective-bargaining rules. The NBA’s salary cap and its interpretations are central to ensuring competitive balance and adherence to the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players’ union.
Aspiration’s bankruptcy filings and subsequent reporting show the company sought relief as liabilities mounted. The filings named creditors and disclosed financial arrangements that have become part of the investigation’s public record. KL2 Aspire LLC’s appearance in the documents and Leonard’s managerial listing have been cited by media outlets examining whether the contract arrangements were structured to redirect funds.
Fox News Digital sought comment from the Clippers and Leonard; the report said neither had immediately responded. The league indicated it will review the outside firm’s findings before deciding on potential discipline or further action.
The investigation remains ongoing. League officials and team representatives have emphasized that conclusions will follow a review of documents and interviews conducted by the independent firm retained by the NBA. The outcomes could have implications for how teams, owners and outside companies structure endorsement agreements relative to salary-cap accounting and disclosure requirements.