The Results of the Kawhi Leonard Saga
The headlines in the media recently have been surrounding the sanctions handed to Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers organisation, mainly around the sanction of 5 first round picks being stripped from the Clippers. But lets take a look at the events of the entire narrative that started all the way back in September of 2021.
September 2021
A banking company by the name of Aspiration was announced as one of the Clippers' major sponsors ahead of the build of their new stadium, the Intuit Dome, worth $300 million. It should be noted that at the time of the signing, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and minority owner Dennis Wong were both investors in the company.
The Kawhi Leonard extension and endorsement deal
Around the same time, the Clippers had signed Kawhi Leonard to a contract extension. Reported figures vary slightly (roughly $173–176 million over four years), but it's widely agreed the deal was struck shortly before the Aspiration sponsorship was made official. Not long after, Leonard signed a separate endorsement deal with Aspiration, worth $28 million over the same four-year period.
Aspiration's massive collapse
In March 2025, Aspiration went bankrupt. It later emerged that co-founder Joe Sanberg had defrauded investors and lenders out of at least $248 million. Sanberg pleaded guilty in October 2025 to two counts of wire fraud, and was sentenced on 1 June 2026 to 14 years in prison, with three years of supervised release to follow. This collapse and the subsequent legal proceedings brought internal Aspiration documents to light, which is what caused the Leonard deal to resurface.
Influence of Pablo Torre
Journalist Pablo Torre broke a story alleging that Kawhi Leonard's deal with Aspiration required essentially nothing from Leonard himself and functioned as a "no-show" pay cheque. This prompted the NBA to launch a formal investigation into whether the Clippers had used Aspiration to pay Leonard extra money — effectively circumventing the salary cap to keep him in LA.
Response from the Clippers and the league
The Clippers organisation, Kawhi Leonard, and Steve Ballmer all publicly denied the allegations. The NBA's investigation ran for roughly a year. During this time, the Clippers agreed to trade Leonard to Toronto (June 2026), but the deal was placed on hold in July 2026 after the league warned the Raptors they could inherit any punishment stemming from the investigation.
The results
After a lengthy investigation, the NBA handed down the following sanctions:
Clippers
$30 million fine (the largest in NBA history)
Forfeiture of five consecutive first-round picks (the Clippers won't own their own first-round pick again until the 2034 NBA Draft)
Kawhi Leonard
Fined $700,000
Steve Ballmer (Owner)
Suspended for one year from all league and team activities
Lawrence Frank (President of Basketball Operations)
Banned for six months
Gillian Zucker (President of Business Operations)
Banned for one year
With Leonard cleared of any serious discipline, the hold on his trade to Toronto has now lifted, and the deal is expected to be finalised within days. Overall, this represents a major crackdown from Adam Silver, who had previously faced criticism for a perceived lack of punishment in similar cases. The picks penalty in particular leaves the Clippers facing a lean rebuild for the best part of a decade.
-JB