The Kawhi Leonard investigation is not shrinking. It is growing.
The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov reported Tuesday that the NBA is now looking into whether Leonard had a second, previously unreported endorsement deal with another company. The league is also investigating whether the Los Angeles Clippers improperly covered certain expenses for Leonard without being reimbursed.
That is not two little bookkeeping questions. That is a full-blown NBA salary cap investigation that just widened its scope.
The original story focused on Aspiration, a financial services company the league is investigating for allegedly funneling money to Leonard while circumventing the salary cap. The Clippers have repeatedly denied the Aspiration allegations. But when league investigators started asking questions, they apparently found more threads worth pulling.
Vorkunov’s reporting suggests the initial scope has broadened well beyond one deal. If Leonard had a second unreported endorsement, that opens a completely new set of questions about disclosure, compliance and what exactly the Clippers’ front office knew about their star player’s outside business.
The Clippers expense question is arguably worse. Teams are not allowed to pay for player expenses without those expenses being properly accounted for under the salary cap and the collective bargaining agreement. If the Clippers were footing the bill for things they should not have been, the money involved might be small but the CBA implications are big.
The NBA seemed to be moving toward a conclusion in June. Investigators had already interviewed many of the key figures in the Aspiration case, and there was chatter that a resolution was close. Now this. Whatever timeline anyone had in their head can be pushed back.
The Clippers could face real punishment if the league finds the organization circumvented the cap. Draft picks, fines and coaching consequences are all on the table depending on what investigators conclude. This is not a slap-on-the-wrist situation.
It also freezes Leonard’s future. The Clippers agreed to trade him to the Toronto Raptors earlier this offseason, but that deal is on hold until the investigation wraps. Toronto is stuck. Los Angeles is stuck. Leonard is stuck.
Steve Ballmer built the Intuit Dome. He owns half of Los Angeles real estate. He has been aggressive about signaling that the Clippers are a legitimate franchise, not just Ballmer’s toy. This investigation is going to test all of that public branding.
Leonard has stayed silent throughout, which is on-brand. His camp has never engaged publicly with the reporting. The Clippers have handled everything through official statements. Both approaches make sense until the league actually delivers a verdict.
What we do not know is more interesting than what we do. Was there a second endorsement deal? What was the value? Who signed off? Which team executives were aware? Were there other players involved in similar arrangements? The NBA is asking those questions. The answers are going to matter.
The Raptors are the innocent bystander in all of this. Toronto negotiated a trade in good faith and now cannot complete it. If the deal falls apart entirely because Leonard is suspended or the Clippers get punished, Masai Ujiri has to pivot on short notice.
The Clippers will keep denying. The investigation will keep expanding. And Kawhi Leonard’s next NBA game just got a lot further away.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
