Browsing: clippers

Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden might have to play himself into peak condition when the regular season begins next week.

On the latest episode of The Hoop Collectivepodcast (starts at 25:40 mark), ESPN’s Brian Windhorst explained that Clippers scouts have said Harden “is not even in that great of shape” right now:

“I think the Clippers look spectacular. I thought they looked spectacular down the stretch last year. And I know that they made some changes to their roster. And I know that they’re older and they’re going to have injuries. And look, James Harden is actually not even in that great of shape. That’s one of the things that the scouts have said, is that Harden has been in better shape at this point. But Kawhi looks fabulous.”

The results for Harden in the preseason have left a lot to be desired. He averaged 6.0 points on 36.8 percent shooting, 7.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game in three starts.

It’s not a huge surprise that Harden is not in peak shape going into the regular season. He admitted two years ago that he was playing himself into “James Harden shape,” though that was also when his offseason and preseason schedule was out of whack due to his standoff with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Even starting that season missing time early until he was traded to the Clippers and not being in peak shape, Harden still played in 72 games. He averaged 16.6 points on 38.1 percent three-point shooting and 8.5 assists per contest.

While the 36-year-old may not be at his peak at this point of his career, Harden is still one of the best players of his generation when he is healthy and on the floor.

His resume includes the 2017-18 MVP, three scoring titles, two assist titles, eight All-NBA selections, 11 All-Star Game nods and a spot on the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team, but it is missing a championship.

The Clippers have backcourt reinforcements if Harden needs more rest in games early in the season. They have Chris Paul, Kriss Dunn and Bradley Beal on the roster.

Harden and the Clippers will open the 2025-26 regular season on Wednesday against the Utah Jazz.

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The NBA “vetted and approved†the $300 million sponsorship deal between Aspiration and the Los Angeles Clippers more than eight months before the company struck a separate endorsement agreement with Kawhi Leonard. The NBA is now investigating the latter agreement under claims of salary cap circumvention.

The latest reporting on the case comes via Baxter Holmes and Bobby Marks at ESPN and dives into the initial sponsorship deal between the Clippers and Aspiration, a “green bank†company that team owner Steve Ballmer invested $50 million in around the same time. From the report:

Two sources with direct knowledge of the arrangement said the Clippers submitted the 23-year agreement to the NBA for approval before it was announced in September 2021, as required under league rules because it contained a jersey patch component, the sources said…

“Teams vet their own sponsorship partners and negotiate their own sponsorship agreements,†NBA spokesperson Mike Bass said in a statement to ESPN. “Given the jersey patchâ€s inclusion on player jerseys and its level of exposure across game telecasts, the league reviews and approves jersey patch arrangements pursuant to league rules that are intended to avoid potential brand issues or conflicts with league partnerships.â€

The other thing the league looks into is the viability of the company — can it live up to the financial obligations of the sponsorship deal? On paper in 2021, Aspiration looked like it could, which is why Ballmer and other billionaires were investing in it. Within a couple of years, Aspiration had fallen apart, the sponsorship deal with the Clippers had been canceled, the company had filed for bankruptcy, and its CEO Joe Sanberg had pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud.

All of this is separate from the allegation that Ballmer and the Clippers used Aspiration and its $48 million endorsement deal with Leonard to skirt the salary cap and get the Clippers star more money, an allegation investigated and made by the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast. The NBA has hired the law firm of Wachtell Lipton, Rosen & Katz to investigate the claim that this was a “no show†endorsement deal — there is no public evidence at this point of Leonard having done any work, made any appearances or done any social media posts for Aspiration — used to circumvent the NBAâ€s salary cap and get more money to Leonard (and his family, including his uncle and business manager Dennis Rodgers). There is a lot of circumstantial evidence for the Clippers to explain, including Clippers minority owner Dennis Wong investing $2 million in Aspiration in late 2023 — when it was clear the company was failing — and Leonard getting a $1.75 million endorsement check days later.

Through all of this, the Clippers and Leonard have vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

“I mean, the NBA is going to do their job. None of us did no wrongdoing,†Leonard said at Clippers media day. “And, yeah, I mean, thatâ€s it. We invite the investigation … I understand that full contract and the services that I had to do. Like I said, I donâ€t deal with the conspiracies or the clickbait analysts or journalism thatâ€s going on.â€

That same day, Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said, “We feel very, very confident weâ€re on the right side of this.â€

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has said the burden of proof is on the NBA to show there was something amiss. The leagueâ€s investigation is expected to last months, very likely into 2026 (the ESPN report suggests it could take until after the 2026 NBA playoffs). Whatever the investigation finds, Silver must bring it to an independent arbitrator — agreed to by the NBA and the players†union — who will determine the next steps and whether Silver has enough to punish the Clippers or not.

Until then, expect the leaks of information to continue.

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• Bobby Marks

• Baxter Holmes

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  Baxter Holmes

  ESPN Senior Writer

  Baxter Holmes (@Baxter) is a senior writer for ESPN Digital and Print, focusing on the NBA. He has covered the Lakers, the Celtics and previously worked for The Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times.

Oct 13, 2025, 02:39 PM ET

The NBA vetted and approved a $300 million sponsorship deal between the LA Clippers and Aspiration in 2021, months before the green banking company signed a separate deal with star Kawhi Leonard that has triggered a salary cap-circumvention investigation by the league, multiple sources told ESPN.

Two sources with direct knowledge of the arrangement said the Clippers submitted the 23-year agreement to the NBA for approval before it was announced in September 2021, as required under league rules because it contained a jersey patch component, the sources said.

The agreement also included signage in the team’s yet-to-be-completed arena in Inglewood, the sources said. In April 2022, Aspiration reportedly signed a separate, $28 million sponsorship deal with Leonard that was not subject to NBA review, per the league’s collective bargaining agreement.

The NBA is investigating whether the Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer violated league rules by circumventing the salary cap to compensate Leonard. Following reports of the allegations, NBA commissioner Adam Silver initially said he had “never heard of the company Aspiration before,” then later revised his comments to say he was “aware of the brand.”

The NBA does not require teams to submit all sponsorship agreements for review. But some types of sponsorships, including jersey patches and signage that is viewable on television broadcasts, are subject to heightened rules or approval by the league. Sponsorships with companies tied to cannabis, gaming and energy drinks are also subject to league review.

“Teams vet their own sponsorship partners and negotiate their own sponsorship agreements,” NBA spokesperson Mike Bass said in a statement to ESPN. “Given the jersey patch’s inclusion on player jerseys and its level of exposure across game telecasts, the league reviews and approves jersey patch arrangements pursuant to league rules that are intended to avoid potential brand issues or conflicts with league partnerships.”

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A Clippers spokesperson referred questions about the league’s process to the NBA.

A sponsorship deal for a team’s jersey patch requires explicit approval of the NBA, according to official league documents obtained by ESPN. The 2021-22 league operations manual specifies that a team “must notify, and obtain the approval of, the NBA” before entering into such an arrangement and that “a team cannot announce any Patch arrangement unless the applicable Patch Sponsorship Agreement, Jersey Patch and announcement have been approved in advance by the NBA.”

The manual devotes roughly four pages to policies regarding patch sponsorship arrangements. It states that teams must submit such terms to the NBA in advance of any announcement.

The manual even dictates a patch’s size and location on the uniform, stating, “The dimensions of the Jersey Patch may be adjusted slightly, as approved by the NBA.”

The manual also specifies provisions that must be included in a contract between a team and patch sponsor. One of those provisions states that the league or the team can terminate the deal if the sponsor “becomes involved in any controversy or scandal that has or may have a negative effect on the business, reputation or the public’s perception of [the team] or the NBA.”

In September 2021, the same month that the Clippers announced their deal with Aspiration, Ballmer invested $50 million in the California-based company, according to podcaster and journalist Pablo Torre.

In April 2022, Aspiration reached a four-year, $28 million endorsement deal with Leonard, an agreement that an unnamed employee who purportedly worked for the banking company told Torre “was to circumvent the salary cap.”

In an interview with ESPN, Ballmer denied that he had knowledge of the endorsement contract that Aspiration eventually signed with Leonard or that he directed the company to do so. NBA rules do not prohibit teams from introducing team sponsors or companies to players, but teams aren’t allowed to be involved in subsequent negotiations. Per the collective bargaining agreement, the league does not review sponsorship deals with players.

The Aspiration logo was scheduled to be on the Clippers’ jerseys at the start of the 2023-24 season after the team’s deal with Honey expired, but it didn’t appear. In January 2024, Bloomberg News reported that Aspiration was the subject of a Department of Justice and Commodity Futures Trading Commission investigation into whether the company misled customers. At the time, the Clippers told Bloomberg that the team had terminated its sponsorship agreement with Aspiration “last season.”

Aspiration filed for bankruptcy this March with a reported debt of $170 million. The company said at the time that it owed the Clippers $30 million, the most of all its creditors.

In August, Aspiration co-founder Joe Sanberg pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. Federal prosecutors said Sanberg defrauded investors and lenders out of $248 million by fraudulently obtaining loans, falsifying bank and brokerage statements, and concealing that he was the source of some revenue booked by the company.

Ballmer told ESPN that he had been reviewing his interaction with Aspiration as part of his and the team’s cooperation with the DOJ investigation into the company.

“These were guys who committed fraud,” he said. “Look, they conned me. They conned me. I made an investment in these guys thinking it was on the up-and-up, and they conned me at this stage.”

Multiple sources familiar with the league’s sponsorship-vetting process said the review centers on the credibility of the company and its ability to deliver on its financial commitments.

It’s unclear whether the league conducted any further reviews of the Clippers-Aspiration agreement after approving the initial deal.

The league has hired law firm Wachtell Lipton, Rosen & Katz to investigate whether the Clippers circumvented salary cap rules. People familiar with the process suggested the probe could take months, perhaps not concluding until after the 2026 NBA playoffs.

But those same people also noted that, per the terms of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, Silver is not solely responsible for deciding whether the Clippers will be punished, depending on the findings.

Rather, Wachtell Lipton will present its findings to the league office, and Silver will have to decide, based on those findings — or lack thereof — whether to bring any potential evidence to a neutral arbitrator appointed by the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association, the people said.

The arbitrator would then examine what Silver brought forth and decide the next step. The arbitrator could either grant Silver the authority to punish the Clippers or decide that there isn’t enough evidence to merit any discipline and deny him the ability to levy penalties against the team.

“The burden is on the league if we’re going to discipline a team, an owner, a player or any constituent members of the league,” Silver told reporters following the league’s board of governors meetings in Midtown Manhattan in mid-September. “I think as with any process that requires a fundamental sense of fairness, the burden should be on the party that is, in essence, bringing those charges.”

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STAMFORD, Conn. — NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Monday that there is “no contemplation” of moving the All-Star Game out of the LA Clippers’ home arena as the league investigates whether the team circumvented salary cap rules in regard to Kawhi Leonard.

The league said it was opening the investigation last month after a report by journalist Pablo Torre centering on a $28 million endorsement contract between Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC, a California-based sustainability services company that filed for bankruptcy this year.

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer made a $50 million investment in Aspiration, and the company and the team announced a $300 million partnership in September 2021.

The NBA can issue stiff penalties if cap rules are found to have been broken by a team, including a fine of up to $7.5 million, the voiding of contracts and the forfeiture of future draft picks.

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But the league’s midseason festivities at Intuit Dome won’t be affected.

“There’s no contemplation of moving the All-Star Game,” Silver said, “and planning for the All-Star Game and the surrounding activities are operating completely independently of the ongoing investigation.”

Silver spoke at NBC Sports headquarters to discuss the network’s return to broadcasting the league this season. The All-Star Game — with an expected new format pitting U.S. and an international team — will be televised by NBC on Feb. 15.

The NBA announced in January 2024 that it would bring the 2026 All-Star Weekend to Intuit Dome even before it opened. The arena, which opened for the 2024-25 season, is also set to host basketball at the 2028 Olympics.

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The NBA All-Star Game wonâ€t be moved this season despite the leagueâ€s investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver confirmed Monday the All-Star weekend festivities this season will take place at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, as planned in February.

“Thereâ€s no contemplation of moving the All-Star Game, and planning for the All-Star Game and the surrounding activities are operating completely independently of the ongoing investigation,†Silver said, via the Associated Press.

The Clippers officially moved into the Intuit Dome last season after years of sharing Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles with the Lakers, the WNBAâ€s Sparks and the NHLâ€s Kings. The Intuit Dome, which sits next to both SoFi Stadium and The Forum in Inglewood, will also host basketball during the 2028 Olympics.

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There has been speculation about the All-Star Game being moved away from the Intuit Dome in recent weeks after journalist Pablo Torre broke a story about allegations of salary cap circumvention with star Kawhi Leonard. Leonard allegedly signed a $28 million contract with tree-planting nonprofit Aspiration for what was essentially a “no-show†job. That company was allegedly funded by Ballmer and the Clippers.

Ballmer has said he was “defrauded†by Aspiration, which has since gone bankrupt, but Torre reported that Ballmer continued to donate to the organization well after Aspiration started showing red flags.

The league has since launched an investigation into the scandal, though Silver said that it would need “clear evidence†that the Clippers violated its rules in order to take action against the team. The league can issue significant punishments if it finds that the Clippers violated its salary cap rules, including fines, voiding contracts or even the loss of draft picks.

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Leonard, who joined the Clippers ahead of the 2019-2020 campaign, averaged 21.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last season. He dismissed the allegations when he was asked about them at the teamâ€s media day last month.

“I donâ€t read headlines or do conspiracy theories or anything like that,†he said. “Itâ€s about the season and what weâ€ve got ahead of us right now. The NBA is going to do their job. None of us did no wrongdoing. Thatâ€s it.â€

The NBAâ€s All-Star weekend is set to take place from Feb. 14-16, 2026.

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In the New Testament, Paul told the Corinthians: “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.”

“Seven employees told me [Leonard’s Aspiration deal was in place to circumvent the salary cap],” Torre posted in mid-September. “One finance [department] employee went on tape in Part I [of the docuseries on the matter]. Another went on tape in Part III.”

It’s not easy to get seven people to agree on anything. And though Torre hasn’t been able to name any of these sources, it’s fair to assume the NBA and the firm it hired to investigate will interview them.

And while this situation won’t be litigated in front of a jury, it can be helpful to think about it as though it would.

If Torre and/or the league were able to put seven witnesses in front of an impartial jury panel and have all of them testify that Leonard’s deal was a form of cap circumvention, it might be difficult for Leonard and/or a defense team to overcome.

Ditto for the growing mound of circumstantial evidence.

Those on L.A.’s side have been quick to point out that there’s no “smoking gun” yet, but federal courts are typically clear on the value of circumstantial evidence.

Federal (and most states’) pattern jury instructions include something along the following lines: “Either can be used to prove any fact. The law makes no distinction between the weight to be given to either direct or circumstantial evidence.”

More importantly, the NBA’s current collective bargaining agreement, under “Article 13 Circumvention,” reads, in relevant part: “A violation… may be proven by direct or circumstantial evidence, including, but not limited to, evidence that a Player Contract or any term or provision thereof cannot rationally be explained in the absence of conduct violative of [these sections.]”

Such rational explanations are getting harder to find with each passing day and week. And that’s just for those of us who have access to what’s already been made public.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the NBA is going to drop the hammer on the Clippers. And any punishment they might receive isn’t likely to come until after they host the 2026 All-Star game.

But we’ve seen enough already to suggest L.A. could (though not necessarily will) face some consequences.

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Chris Paul has worn No. 3 his entire NBA career and even goes by the nickname CP3, so it would follow that he would be willing to pay quite the price to keep the number in what might be the final season of his career.

The Los Angeles Clippers guard essentially confirmed as much Monday.

“If only y’all knew how much money I’ve paid to wear No. 3,” he told reporters.

It is something of a noteworthy comment considering what Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said in July when discussing Bradley Beal’s willingness to give up the number, which he has also worn his entire NBA career.Â

“Once Brad heard it’s a possibility Chris was coming he said, ‘I want to give him my number,’ and I don’t even think Chris knows this yet,” Frank told reporters. “It’s awesome that Brad made such a great gesture like that.”

It seems like Beal received a nice payday for that “gesture,” although Paul was making light of the entire situation and noted his new teammate did not ask for the money:

Los Angeles added both Paul and Beal to its veteran-laden roster this offseason. They are two of the eight players who are older than 30 years old with Brook Lopez, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Nicolas Batum, Bogdan Bogdanović and Kris Dunn also set to suit up for the team in win-now mode.

It is a homecoming of sorts for Paul, who played for the Clippers from 2011-12 through 2016-17 during some of the best individual seasons of his Hall of Fame-worthy career.

He made five straight All-Star Games, finished in the top 10 in MVP voting and was a member of either the First- or Second-Team All-NBA in his first five seasons with Los Angeles and was, of course, wearing No. 3 the entire time.

Paul won’t be in quite as integral of a role as a 40-year-old during his second go-around with the Clippers, but he will still be wearing the familiar number.

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