Clippers Aspirations on Pause After the NBA Announces Historic Punishments for the Franchise
By: Aven Gwara
On Wednesday, Sept. 2, the NBA finally announced its findings and penalties against the Los Angeles Clippers. The investigation began last September and was popularized by investigative journalist Pablo Torre. He alleged that the organization was actively circumventing the salary cap rules agreed to by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
The CBA is an agreement between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), the union representing NBA players. Although many were quietly aware of and investigating the Clippers’ misconduct, Torre brought the news into the mainstream on his podcast, “Pablo Torre Finds Out.” By analyzing internal documents and information, Torre uncovered that the L.A. Clippers were circumventing the salary cap rules outlined by the CBA, and paying their franchise player, Kawhi Leonard, through a third-party source, Aspiration.
Aspiration was an eco-friendly technology company that started as a “green bank” and later pivoted to a business-to-business model that would sell carbon credits to other companies. Aspiration filed for bankruptcy in March 2025, and co-founder Joseph Sanberg later faced federal charges for his role in several crimes committed by Aspiration. Most notably, Sanberg was sentenced to 14 years in prison for multiple counts of wire fraud. Sanberg had defrauded investors and backers through a variety of schemes, going so far as to obtain fraudulent loans, and even reporting his own artificial funding in the company’s financial records.
However, prior to the company’s bankruptcy, there were true investors and backers in the company. One such investor, Steve Ballmer, owned the L.A. Clippers. Ballmer had invested over $60 million into the green company over the span of 18 months. This in and of itself would not be a problem if not for the fact that his franchise player was on the company’s payroll, something that immediately raises red flags in the context of a CBA violation investigation. Leonard was involved with the company through a $28 million endorsement deal with Aspiration. Although it was an “endorsement deal,” Leonard never endorsed or spoke about the company. The only stipulation of the agreement was that Leonard must remain a Clipper.
Anonymous whistleblowers from Aspiration would go on to speak to journalists such as Torre and would also file SEC complaints under the penalty of perjury. They would claim that the company had used the endorsement deal explicitly to circumvent the salary cap and breach the contract rules and agreements set by the CBA.
This would not be the first time that the Clippers would receive a fine from the NBA in relation to the CBA. In July 2015, the franchise was fined $250,000 for pitching an improper endorsement deal to its center, DeAndre Jordan. With him being pursued by the Dallas Mavericks, the Clippers were going to be in a rough spot if he decided to leave. Though Ballmer confirmed he made such an offer, which was rumored to be a Lexus brand endorsement, he claimed that it was an “inadvertent” breach of anti-circumvention protocol. Ultimately, Jordan did end up staying with the Clippers, however, the NBA claims that the actions of the Clippers did not impact Jordan’s decision.
After a yearlong investigation, the NBA finally concluded that the L.A. Clippers, through Aspiration, had violated the rules set forth by the CBA. Fines and penalties were given to top-level Clippers officials, along with Leonard. Ballmer was deemed to be the leader of the scheme and received a year-long suspension from all NBA activities and a $30 million franchise fine. Leonard’s personal business manager, Dennis Robertson, was given a five-year ban from the NBA after the NBA found that he had pressured the Clippers into going along with the scheme. Leonard received a $700,000 fine, as his knowledge of the scheme could not be confirmed beyond a reasonable doubt by the NBA. Leonard’s contract with Aspiration would have earned him a total of $28 million had the company not filed for bankruptcy. In the end, he walked away with a total of $21 million.
Ultimately, the largest blow from the scandal would be against the franchise’s future. Alongside the $30 million franchise fine, the Clippers would also have to forfeit five first-round picks (2029-2033) in the NBA Draft. Although the Clippers initially rejected the NBA’s findings, Ballmer later announced that the organization would comply with the penalties while still expressing disagreements with the report. Beyond potentially being the largest punishment in NBA history, the penalty leaves the Clippers and their fans with a lot to consider. Consistently ranked as one of the weakest teams in the NBA, the loss of five first round picks for five consecutive years does even more damage toward their aspirations for the future.
Currently in a rebuilding era, the Clippers traded Leonard with the goal in mind of building a younger roster. The Clippers’ acquisition of Paul George in 2019 involved five first-round picks, while the Aspiration investigation resulted in the loss of five additional future first-round picks. With the Leonard era in L.A. coming to an end, the franchise is left to reckon with the long-term costs of its decisions. While they had championship aspirations, the franchise did not win a championship during Leonard’s time in Los Angeles, despite reaching the Western Conference finals in 2021.