The Los Angeles Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard and team owner Steve Ballmer are currently under investigation for allegedly providing improper benefits to Leonard. While it remains unclear whether any violations have actually occurred, the NBA is conducting a thorough investigation into the matter. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the league is examining specific allegations related to undisclosed payments.
“At the heart of it is essentially investigating whether there is hard proof that there were improper back-door payments on behalf of the Clippers or Steve Ballmer to Kawhi Leonard. There has to be hard evidence that proves that,” Shams Charania said on SportsCenter. “Circumstantially, there's certain dots you can connect here.”
The investigation process may be lengthy, as the NBA is expected to scrutinize every detail. Despite the uncertainty, Steve Ballmer has spoken out about the situation. Others in the sports world—many of whom are not directly involved—have also voiced strong opinions. NFL agent Hadley Engelhard called for serious consequences if Ballmer is found guilty.
“If it’s proven, I believe he should lose this franchise. It's $28 million dollars, it's real money and if they can prove he did it with the idea of circumventing and paying him, a penalty of losing draft choices isn’t a penalty. That means nothing to these guys, so the only way you make a point is to want to prove, hey you can’t do this,” Engelhard said.
Pablo Torre, the journalist who originally brought the allegations to light, recently uncovered an additional development—an alleged $20 million side deal—further complicating the situation.
“Hi. PTFO can now confirm that Aspiration gave Kawhi a secret $20M side-deal, as first reported by BostonSportsBSJ. Combined with Kawhi’s secret $28M no-show endorsement deal: that’s $48M,” Torre posted.
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If these claims are proven true, it could have serious implications for Leonard. The addition of another $20 million to the already significant allegations would only intensify scrutiny from the league. While more information is likely to emerge slowly, this revelation adds another twist to an already major controversy.