NBA Reporter Raises Alarming Questions in Kawhi Leonard Scandal, Puts Clippers’ Defense on Its Heels

It started with a bobblehead. A small, forgettable piece of memorabilia, until one Clippers fan noticed something strange on its packaging. Four giveaways were held during the 2022-23 season. Three carried familiar corporate sponsors: Kia for Marcus Morris Sr., Cedars-Sinai for Nicolas Batum, and AT&T for Paul George. Kawhi Leonard’s? It bore the name Aspiration. And this discovery has brought a new twist to the scandal surrounding Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Aspiration. That word has become radioactive. It is the name of a now-bankrupt sustainability company that received a $50 million investment from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, and the company is now at the center of an explosive NBA investigation. According to a report by journalist Pablo Torre on September 3, 2025, Kawhi Leonard allegedly received a $28 million “no-show” endorsement deal with Aspiration between 2022 and 2025, with an additional $20 million to be paid in stocks.

Journalist Joey Linn summed up the unease surrounding the discovery of the bobblehead: “If this is true … Kawhi’s bobblehead is the only one with Aspiration branding … that’s not great optics for their stance of having zero involvement with his endorsement deal.” The implication is sharp: if the team produced a giveaway bearing that sponsor while publicly denying any link, it edges them closer to complicity.

Linn elaborated further: “Bobbleheads are team-produced and team-issued. It’s very common for team sponsors to be on bobbleheads. However, if the Clippers actually attempted to help Kawhi fulfill his individual agreement with Aspiration by choosing them for his bobblehead, it would be inconsistent with their stance of having zero involvement with his deal. I’d be surprised if they were that careless, but this whole thing has been bizarre.”

The Clippers have denied any wrongdoing, stating in official communications that neither they nor Ballmer circumvented any salary-cap rules, and that any contrary assertion is “provably false.” They also stressed that their relationship with Aspiration ended during the 2022-23 season, and they were unaware of any improper activity by the company or its co-founder until after the investigation began.

This isn’t just about memorabilia. Under the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, salary-cap circumvention violations can trigger steep penalties: fines up to $7.5 million, forfeiture of first-round picks, and even contract nullification. Suddenly, a promotional bobblehead looks like potential evidence.

When the initial reports about the controversy emerged, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer immediately sat down for an interview and spoke at length about his version of what had happened.

Clippers double down as Steve Ballmer speaks out

When the story dropped, the Clippers wasted no time laying claim to innocence, reiterating that no misconduct occurred. Owner Steve Ballmer went further in an interview with ESPN, emphasizing that while he invested $50 million in Aspiration, he held no board seat or control over company decisions: “I had no control over this company…I owned less than 3%… Heck, it was a fraudulent company. It’s possible nobody had any control,” Ballmer told Ramona Shelburne on September 5, 2025.

He also described how the introduction between Aspiration and Kawhi Leonard happened without team involvement: “We were done. We were done with Kawhi, we were done with Aspiration. The deals were all locked and loaded. Then, they did request to be introduced to Kawhi, and under the rules, we can introduce our sponsors to our athletes. We just can’t be involved. We made an introduction. That was in early November… I eventually learned that they had reached a deal. I have no idea what the deal was,” Ballmer said he felt “embarrassed” by the company, calling it fraudulent and untrustworthy, echoing his claim: “They conned me.”

Whether that defense holds under the NBA’s scrutiny remains to be seen. For now, the Clippers’ strategy is clear: distance themselves from the deal, downplay the optics surrounding Kawhi Leonard, and hope the investigation finds coincidence rather than complicity.