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NBA disputes key details in ESPN report on Kawhi Leonard investigation

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NBA disputes key details in ESPN report on Kawhi Leonard investigation

As the Kawhi Leonard saga drags on, now approaching a full year, a new wrinkle sheds light on where the investigation stands. A new report has drawn pushback from the NBA on what it alleges are “significant inaccuracies.”

According to ESPN, the NBA has found no evidence linking Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer to an alleged scheme to funnel money to Leonard during the franchise’s courtship of the star forward during the 2019 offseason.

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ESPN also reported that the league’s investigation is now focused on the Clippers introducing Leonard to corporate sponsors, and whether that classifies as violations of the NBA’s rules against salary cap circumvention. As part of that focus, the NBA is assessing whether the alleged actions constitute “failure to supervise” employees, though ESPN noted it’s unclear which rules violations would have taken place.

In response, the NBA pushed back against the content in the report.

“ESPN’s article regarding the LA Clippers investigation — for which the NBA declined to cooperate — contains numerous and significant inaccuracies,” NBA chief communications officer Mike Bass said on Monday, Aug. 17 in a statement. “The results in this matter will be made clear once the investigation is concluded.”

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The Clippers also issued a statement Monday, defending their practices throughout Leonard’s courtship and employment.

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“The Clippers introduced players, including Kawhi Leonard, to companies with which we had business relationships,” the statement reads. “Making introductions between players and team partners is both an ordinary practice by NBA teams and a common request of players and representatives. From there, Kawhi and his representatives handled their own negotiations. The Clippers did not negotiate or dictate the terms of Kawhi’s endorsement agreements or determine what he would be paid.”

The Clippers, which have denied any wrongdoing since the beginning of the matter, also said they “did not overpay any vendor or provide any sponsor, vendor, or business partner with discounts or other favorable terms in order to funnel money to Kawhi.”

The NBA outsourced its investigation into Leonard, which began in September 2025, to the New York-based law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. The inquiry examined a four-year, $28 million contract that Leonard signed to market and endorse a now-bankrupt “green” financial services company called Aspiration, which had previously received a significant investment from Ballmer.

Earlier in August, another possible endorsement deal between Leonard and a Clippers corporate sponsor emerged, though it had previously been undisclosed. This one was with Daktronics, the company that designed the Clippers’ video board inside the Intuit Dome where they play home games.

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“The fact that a player has an endorsement relationship with a company that also does business with his team is not evidence of salary-cap circumvention,” the Clippers added Monday in their statement.

Per ESPN, the NBA presented the findings of the investigation to the Clippers in July, and both sides are negotiating a resolution to the matter. Those discussions, according to the report, are being led by David N. Kelley, a lawyer from O’Melveny & Myers who is representing Ballmer and the Clippers and NBA general counsel and chief compliance officer Rick Buchanan. ESPN said, citing an unnamed source, that those discussions have been “spirited.”

On June 30, the Clippers agreed to trade Leonard to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round picks, one pick swap and two second-round picks. That deal, however, has been held up as the investigation is ongoing; both the Clippers and the Raptors have issued statements indicating that they are waiting for the full findings — and any discipline that may arise from the investigation — before completing the transaction.

In September 2025, just as the investigation was getting underway, NBA commissioner Adam Silver stressed that the burden of proof would fall on the league and its investigators to determine whether any wrongdoing had occurred.

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“I would be reluctant to act if there was a mere appearance of impropriety,” Silver said then.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA disputes key details in ESPN report on Kawhi Leonard investigation

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