The NBA has strongly disputed an ESPN report about its investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard, signaling that the case stays removed from resolved.
ESPN reported that investigators discovered no proof Clippers proprietor Steve Ballmer personally funneled cash to Leonard by way of group sponsors to avoid the wage cap.
The investigation is reportedly as a substitute inspecting whether or not Los Angeles broke guidelines by connecting Leonard with enterprise companions.
“ESPN’s article concerning the LA Clippers investigation – for which the NBA declined to cooperate – incorporates quite a few and important inaccuracies,” league spokesman Mike Bass mentioned. “The outcomes on this matter will probably be made clear as soon as the investigation is concluded.”
The NBA didn’t specify which elements of the report have been inaccurate.
The investigation started following allegations that Leonard obtained a four-year, $28 million endorsement deal from Aspiration, an organization with monetary ties to Ballmer and the Clippers.
The settlement was alleged to be a “no-show” association designed to offer Leonard extra compensation outdoors the wage cap.
Ballmer and the Clippers have persistently denied wrongdoing, whereas the probe has reportedly expanded to Leonard’s relationships with different group companions.
The uncertainty has additionally put Leonard’s potential commerce again to the Toronto Raptors on maintain.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver beforehand known as salary-cap circumvention a “cardinal sin,” however harassed that punishment requires strong proof.
Regardless of ESPN’s doubtlessly favorable report for the Clippers, the NBA insists the investigation has not reached its conclusion.
NBA unloads on ESPN over ‘quite a few’ inaccuracies in Clippers bombshell https://t.co/P3TBGGHYG9 pic.twitter.com/AA8ee7QxDJ
— New York Submit (@nypost) August 17, 2026
