There’s a new twist in the NBA’s salary-cap saga involving Kawhi Leonard, the LA Clippers, and team owner Steve Ballmer — and it now includes the team's minority owner.
On his Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast, sports journalist Pablo Torre reported that Dennis Wong invested about $2 million in Aspiration, a now-bankrupt environmental startup, just days before the company allegedly paid the the two-time Finals MVP $1.75 million through an "endorsement deal."
EXCLUSIVE: Kawhi Leonard's $1.75M "no-show" payday was running late.
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) September 11, 2025
Then, per new documents obtained by @PabloTorre, the Clippers' co-owner invested $1.99M in the team's broke sponsor.
Nine days later, Kawhi got paid.
"It is beyond shocking," an Aspiration executive says.
Wong, who owns 1% of the Clippers and was Ballmer’s college roommate, reportedly made the investment on December 6, 2022, when Aspiration was already running out of money.
Nine days later, the 34-year-old Leonard received $1.75 million from the company. And on the same day, Aspiration laid off 20% of its employees, according to Torre.
“It is beyond shocking, and I will tell you, I knew that the board of directors at Aspiration had put in money in December to make payroll and pay rent… so it is not a rational investment that someone like Wong would make,” a former Aspiration employee said on Torre’s podcast.
The former employee continued: “It is very shocking to me that $2 million was invested by Dennis Wong, who in my texts is identified as Steve Ballmer’s partner, just a week before $1.75 million was paid to Kawhi.”
Aspiration, the fraudulent company that signed Kawhi Leonard to a $28M "no-show" endorsement deal, was so broke that former employees say it laid off 20% of staff.
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) September 11, 2025
That same day (and the week after a $1.99M investment from the Clippers' co-owner), Aspiration paid Kawhi $1.75M.
This development adds another layer to the case, which began when Torre accused the Clippers of circumventing the league’s salary cap by paying Leonard $28 million for a “no-show job.”
[ALSO READ: What we know: Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers accused of circumventing NBA salary cap]
Torre added that Leonard was paid through a now-bankrupt company in which Ballmer had invested.
Since then, Ballmer has denied the accusations, insisting that the team “abided by the salary-cap circumvention rules” because that is the “right thing to do.”
“We have nothing to hide, and we’re glad for the opportunity to tell our story,” the 69-year-old former Microsoft CEO bared.
[ALSO READ: Ballmer denies alleged Clippers salary cap circumvention for Leonard; Torre stands firm]
Yesterday, commissioner Adam Silver said the burden of proof is on the league to establish any wrongdoing by the Clippers.
[ALSO READ: Adam Silver says he will let Kawhi Leonard, Clippers salary cap probe 'run its course']
He also noted that the league will wait for the report from the outside firm it hired to conduct the investigation before taking any next steps.
“I don’t know what Kawhi was paid. I don’t know what he did or didn’t do. We’ll leave all that for the investigation,” he noted.
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Pao Ambat earned his journalism degree from Cavite State University in 2022.
Passionate about sports from a young age, he primarily covers the NBA for One Sports, while also assisting in reporting on the PVL, PBA, UAAP, and other leagues.
