NBA Finds No Proof Ballmer Paid Leonard Through Sponsors
SkimNews Take
The downgrade from a sponsorship-funneling accusation to a technical-rules violation suggests the original allegation couldn't survive evidentiary scrutiny—a fallback that strengthens the union's position to reject even the softened finding.
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- NBA investigators have found no evidence that Steve Ballmer funneled money through team sponsors to pay Kawhi Leonard and circumvent the salary cap, according to three people with knowledge of recent discussions between the league and the Clippers.
- The investigation, led by law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, expanded beyond Aspiration to at least three other companies including Daktronics and Boingo Wireless, though sources said no Ballmer-to-Leonard money trail emerged from those deals either.
- The league is now focused on whether the Clippers' introduction of Leonard to team sponsors constitutes a rule violation — possibly a 'failure to supervise' — but two NBPA sources said an argument that sponsor introductions count as circumvention is 'dead on arrival' and unlikely to survive arbitration.
- Ballmer has told confidants he will not accept any league finding asserting he or the team intended to circumvent the cap and would instead take the matter to arbitration; talks led by attorney David N. Kelley and NBA general counsel Rick Buchanan have been described as 'spirited.'
- Early in negotiations, NBA lawyers raised the 2000 Minnesota Timberwolves-Joe Smith case as a punishment template — a precedent that cost the Timberwolves five first-round picks and a $3.5 million fine for an illegal secret agreement, with two of those picks later restored.
- The Clippers agreed on June 30 to trade Leonard to the Toronto Raptors for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and draft picks, but the deal is on hold after the Raptors learned they would be absorbing the risk for any penalties tied to Leonard.
- The NBA operations manual in effect when the Clippers and Leonard struck their 2021-22 deals barred team representatives from recommending players to sponsors for endorsement deals, but explicitly permitted teams to share player contact information with sponsors who asked.
Why it matters: If the NBA tries to penalize the Clippers based on a theory the NBPA itself calls 'dead on arrival,' one league insider warned it 'will be felt across the league' and trigger a CBA fight. Ballmer has already signaled he'll take any circumvention finding to arbitration, and Toronto's trade for Leonard is frozen because the Raptors refuse to absorb the penalty risk on a player whose team just dodged — or didn't — the same bullet.
Ask SkimNews
