Kawhi Leonard is no stranger to the phrase “load management.” But today’s headlines suggest the Clippers may have taken that concept to new, and potentially illegal, heights.

Investigative reports surfaced that Leonard received $28 million dollars through a “no-show job” at a sustainability company tied to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. The catch? Leonard apparently didn’t do a single thing for the brand, and the arrangement only existed while he was a Clipper.

Now the NBA is investigating whether this was a clever loophole—or a cap-circumventing scandal straight out of the Joe Smith playbook.

What To Know

The Clippers called the allegations “provably false” and stressed they ended ties with Aspiration after the company defaulted in 2023. Ballmer’s team insists there’s no rule-breaking, rather bad reporting.

The Big Deal?

Kawhi’s on-court legacy is already complicated by missed games and a reputation for staying mute on promoting basketball. But this scandal shifts the narrative from “quiet superstar” to “quiet beneficiary.”

For Ballmer—one of the NBA’s richest owners—it’s a real bad look. Fans wonder if the Clippers need to cheat to keep Kawhi happy? The NBA is about to do some digging to see if that smoke has some fire to it.