Adam Silver Says He 'Never Heard a Whiff' About Kawhi Leonard, Aspiration Contract

NBA commissioner Adam Silver commented Wednesday on the investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard for potential salary-cap circumvention, saying he "never heard a whiff of anything" regarding the situation.

Last week, Pablo Torre reported on his podcast that Leonard had an endorsement deal with Aspiration, the same company that Clippers governor Steve Ballmer invested $50 million into in 2021.

Silver added that he doesn't want to forbid endorsement deals between players and companies who also have deals with teams, but noted the Clippers investigation could result in the league assessing "additional things we need to do."

According to Torre's report, Leonard signed a four-year, $28 million endorsement deal with Aspiration in 2022, nine months after he signed with the Clippers in free agency. The deal was a "no-show job" and reportedly had a clause that the agreement would be voided if Leonard left the team.

The purpose of the Aspiration agreement "was to circumvent the salary cap," an unnamed employee who reportedly worked for the company told Torre.

The Clippers denied that Leonard's deal with Aspiration was an attempt to circumvent the salary cap or connected to Ballmer's investment in the company.

"There is nothing unusual or untoward about team sponsors doing endorsement deals with players on the same team," it said in a statement. "Neither Steve nor the Clippers organization had any oversight of Kawhi's independent endorsement agreement with Aspiration. To say otherwise is flat-out wrong. The Clippers take NBA compliance extremely seriously, fully respect the league's rules, and welcome its investigation related to Aspiration."

One wrinkle in the entire situation is that the NBA reportedly investigated Leonard and his uncle, Dennis Robertson, for making improper requests during negotiations with teams after the star signed with the Clippers. One of those reported requests was guaranteed no-show endorsement deals.

The NBA's investigation into the matter is ongoing.