Follow usLos Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard is at the center of controversy after investigative journalist Pablo Torre reported that the forward received $28 million off the books from the franchise.
According to Torre, documents show the money was funneled through a landscaping company, which had been financed with $50 million by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. The arrangement was allegedly designed to circumvent the NBA’s strict salary-cap regulations.
Exclusive: Kawhi Leonard signed a $28M endorsement deal for a “no-show job” with a fraudulent tree-planting company funded by $50M from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, according to documents obtained by @PabloTorre.
“It was to circumvent the salary cap,” an inside source says. pic.twitter.com/F6z5pNEkI1
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) September 3, 2025
Such practices are explicitly forbidden. The league has precedent for severe punishment in similar cases — most notably in the late 1990s, when the Minnesota Timberwolves were stripped of five first-round draft picks, fined millions of dollars, and saw Joe Smith’s contract voided after an illegal salary-cap scheme. Smith was later forced to sign elsewhere, joining the Detroit Pistons.
Los Angeles Clippers statement on Kawhi Leonard: pic.twitter.com/wl0jUo9ZaY
— NBACentel (@TheNBACentel) September 4, 2025
The NBA confirmed it has launched an investigation into the allegations involving Leonard and the Clippers. Leonard is one of the league’s most decorated active players, a six-time All-Star, two-time NBA champion, two-time Finals MVP, and a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team. He is currently in the first season of a three-year, $150 million contract that runs through 2027.
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