Kawhi Leonard is under federal investigation for circumventing the NBA’s salary cap with secret endorsement deals.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched an investigation into the contract Leonard signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2019.
The investigation is led by the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn, NY, which has a long history of investigating the NBA and other pro sports, according to The NY Times.
In July 2019, Leonard signed a three-year contract with the Clippers worth more than $100 million.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is accused of helping Leonard circumvent the NBA’s salary cap rules by providing sponsorship deals worth over $50 million from outside companies.
The NBA’s salary cap limits how much a team can spend on one player, partly to promote competition within the league.
The salary cap prohibited Leonard from earning more than $100 million over 3 years with the Clippers.
Investigative journalist Pablo Torre first reported Leonard’s secret sponsorship deals on his podcast, “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” in September 2025.
The Clippers vigorously denied the allegations.
After Torre’s podcast aired, the NBA hired a high-powered law firm to dig into Torre’s claims.
According to Torre, Leonard’s uncle, Dennis Robertson, pressured the Clippers into providing over $50 million in endorsement deals to pad Leonard’s $100 million contract – a violation of the salary cap rules.
Torre reported that Leonard had signed a $28 million “no-show” endorsement deal with a company called Aspiration Partners. The deal didn’t require any promotional work from Leonard. The sponsorship deals were not made public.
Torre also cited anonymous former employees of Aspiration Partners who alleged that the Clippers’ owner Steve Ballmer had invested $50 million in the company, as a means of paying Leonard under the table to circumvent the NBA salary cap
The law firm determined that the Clippers did help Leonard to circumvent the NBA’s salary cap with extra money. The four companies that signed Leonard to “no-show” sponsorship deals are also under federal investigation.
There are reports that Leonard and his uncle asked for the same type of no-work sponsorship deals from the Toronto Raptors before the Clippers signed him in 2019.
Federal prosecutors began investigating the salary cap scandal after the NBA dealt a series of severe punishments against the Clippers.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stripped the Clippers of 5 future draft picks and fined Ballmer and two top executives for breaking its rules.
Leonard, 35, was ordered to pay $700,000 in restitution to the NBA, while the Clippers were docked $30 million and Clippers owner, Ballmer, was suspended from the league for one year.
Two other Clippers executives involved were suspended, as was Leonard’s uncle, Robertson, The Times reported.
Leonard said in a statement that he accepts “responsibility for lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle.”
It isn’t clear if the DOJ investigation will lead to charges for Leonard, his uncle, or the Clippers’ executives.
The Clippers and owner Ballmer are still trying to cope with the league’s death penalty of revoking 5 future draft picks.
They are reportedly considering filing a lawsuit against the NBA, or asking a judge to issue a restraining order, sources tell The NY Times.
Leonard is a 2-time NBA champion, two-time Finals MVP, and a seven-time All-Star. He was selected by the Indiana Pacers in the 1st round of the 2011 NBA Draft. He also played for the San Antonio Spurs (2011-2018) and the Toronto Raptors (2018–2019).