NBA commissioner Adam Silver pledged to “get to the bottom” of the Kawhi Leonard endorsement case that’s dominating conversations around the league. The NBA is investigating whether the Los Angeles Clippers — and team owner Steve Ballmer — circumvented the league’s salary cap via a “no-show” endorsement deal between Leonard and former team sponsor Aspiration, a now-bankrupt environmental company.
Silver, speaking Tuesday at a Front Office Sports conference in New York, said: “I don’t know anything about Kawhi’s deal. Show, no show. We’ll certainly find out.”
“Yes, this investigation will take time,” Silver said. “I mean, we want to be as complete and thorough as possible, and it’s my sense from being involved in these things in the past, we will get to the bottom of this.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver today, at the Front Office Sports conference, on the Kawhi/Clippers/Aspiration cap circumvention investigation: “I don’t know anything about Kawhi’s deal. Show, no show; we’ll certainly find out.”
He also promised, “We will get to the bottom of it.”
— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) September 16, 2025
Silver also said the league will review its rules around owner and player investments in light of the allegations against Leonard, Ballmer and the Clippers, which were first reported by Pablo Torre on his “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast earlier this month.
“We have rules now and we have lines, but there’s not a complete prohibition,” Silver said. “It’s based on the amount each owns in those entities, but the value is getting much higher, and the world is getting more complicated. Those are things we’re gonna look at.”
Similar to his previous comments on the situation, Silver again highlighted due process and fairness, saying Tuesday, “We will be thorough, but we will begin with a presumption of innocence, not a presumption of guilt … and then we will follow the facts.”
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Adam Silver suggests Kawhi Leonard investigation would need to yield substantial evidence for NBA to act
The commissioner also clarified his prior comments in which he said he’d never heard of the company Aspiration before.
“If I said I never heard of it, I meant in the context of the accusations here. I mean, I certainly was aware of the brand,” Silver said. That comment came after Torre posted on X that he obtained a copy of Aspiration’s $300 million “Founding Sponsorship Agreement” that said the agreement must be approved by the NBA before its enforcement.
Ballmer, meanwhile, speaking at Sports Business Journal’s Drive event Tuesday in Los Angeles, reiterated his stance that he was defrauded by the company and said he welcomes the NBA’s probe, which will be conducted by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
“This is not a fun thing to be through,” Ballmer said. “I was personally defrauded through our interactions with the company and some of the staff. The fraud sort of extended broadly through that. We had many relationships with the company — sponsor, activation, (it) was through carbon credits, a whole bunch of complicated stuff.”
“But the important thing is our relationship with the company, and our player’s relationship with the company were independent, which is important under the rules of the NBA,” Ballmer said, according to the Sports Business Journal. “I feel quite confident in that, that we abided (by) the rules. So, I welcome the investigation that the NBA is doing. It’s a great way, from our perspective, to get the facts out there.”
Ballmer and the Clippers could face severe punishments based on the CBA, including potential fines, loss of draft picks and suspensions, if they’re found guilty of circumventing the cap.
(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)