Kawhi Leonard and Steve Ballmer’s Clippers haven’t made a positive headline in months. Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg formally pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud in federal court in downtown Los Angeles on Monday. On the other hand, the NBA side is under an internal investigation for allegedly circumventing the salary cap through a $28 million no-show endorsement, involving Kawhi Leonard and the now-defunct sustainability firm.

In response, Adam Silver had emphasized the importance of a thorough investigation, stating, “I’d want the league to investigate, take it seriously,” and reaffirmed the NBA’s commitment to upholding its values.

In a recent interview with SI, Silver confirmed that the ongoing $248 million federal investigation will play a big role in the NBA’s decision on Ballmer and the Clippers’ case. The Commissioner clarified that he does not want to draw any conclusions about whether the LA side intentionally broke salary cap rules.

“Somebody asked me if circumstantial evidence is enough, and just as in a court of law, sometimes there’s direct evidence and sometimes there’s circumstantial evidence. And certainly, circumstantial evidence alone doesn’t prevent findings for one particular side. But then, even in the case of circumstantial evidence, you look at the totality of the circumstances. So it’s not formulaic. We will look at everything that’s presented to us, and that includes inferences that come from evidence as well,” Adam Silver said.

The Commissioner acknowledged that the investigation could be a lengthy one, given the complex overlap between federal findings and league policy.

“I really don’t know. I can say it will take some time, just based on past experience. From the reporting so far, many of the sources are anonymous, but there are several of them. And you have here a separate court proceeding. We have a guilty plea [by Aspiration cofounder Joe Sanberg for wire fraud]. So there’s a fair amount of evidence for us to look at. The stakes are very high here. We, as a league, want to be careful and make sure that not only are we being fair to the Clippers and Steve Ballmer, but also that we have a true understanding of whatever happened here,” Adam Silver concluded.

Silver’s comments follow a recent Wall Street Journal report that cast doubt on a key claim made by Steve Ballmer. According to Robert O’Connell and Harriet Ryan, in December 2021, Joe Sanberg told a senior Aspiration executive that the Clippers had approached the company about doing a deal with The Klaw, describing it as “important to the Clippers.”

This directly contradicts Ballmer’s earlier statement on ESPN’s SportsCenter, where he claimed that the LA team did separate deals with Kawhi Leonard and Aspiration. He claimed that Aspiration had initiated contact and asked the Clippers to make the introduction. However, WSJ’s finding suggests that the Clippers may have played a proactive role in orchestrating this arrangement…

While this changes the trajectory of the case from this point forward, former NBA stars have also been discussing the repercussions this could have on the LA side in the long run; it could get pretty scary. In the same SI interview, however, Silver gave fans a reason to smile, but left them confused at the same time.

Adam Silver is not giving up on a yearly NBA tradition, amid reassuring his league plans won’t delay any expansion

Adam Silver clarified that the NBA’s plans to launch a European league will not interfere with domestic expansion. “They are on completely independent tracks,” the Commissioner said. He reaffirmed his interest in creating an NBA-style league in Europe, noting that a market would be there for it.

Cities such as Montreal and Vancouver, British Columbia, have been raised as possibilities in the past during domestic expansion discussions, along with Kansas City, Missouri, and Louisville, Kentucky, both of which have NBA-caliber arenas.

This revelation comes amid other major league reforms, such as Adam Silver’s new All-Star Game format, which switches to a USA vs. the World structure. The change could affect players like Austin Reaves, whose chances of All-Star recognition may shrink in a field solely dominated by American stars. Silver noted that the marquee event will likely clash with the Winter Olympics, and viewers will crave basketball matchups of this kind in a Ryder Cup-type format.