The Clippers held media day on Monday as preparation begins in earnest for the 2025-26 season. But, as expected, there was a lot more focus on the team's ongoing off-the-court issues than anything else: the NBA investigation into whether the Clippers circumvented the salary cap to pay superstar forward Kawhi Leonard on the side.
President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank attempted to head off most of the questions about the situation by opening up the team media day with a lengthy statement reiterating that the Clippers and Ballmer were defrauded by Aspiration, the company alleged to have been paying Leonard for a "no-show job." He also stated the franchise welcomes the league investigation and are confident the findings will prove the accusations of salary cap circumvention are unfounded.
A few hours later, Leonard himself got in front of a microphone for the first time since Pablo Torre reported his massive deal with Aspiration and the suspicious actions by the Clippers surrounding it. Leonard chose to address the issue at the podium at media day in what are his first public comments on the matter.
To start, Leonard was asked if he had a reaction or a statement to the allegations over the last few months. He took a similar stance to Frank, insisting there was no wrongdoing and he welcomes the investigation.
"No. The NBA is going to do they job. None of us did no wrongdoing. That's it. We invite the investigations. It's not going to be a distraction for me or the rest of the team."
Kawhi Leonard echoed the Clippers comments, saying there was no wrongdoing done:
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) September 29, 2025
“The NBA is going to do their job. None of us did no wrongdoing. That's it. We invite the investigations. It's not going to be a distraction for me or my team.” pic.twitter.com/NJh4dngdpK
Leonard was then asked about his contract with Aspiration, which Torre reported was worth $48 million and didn't require anything of the star player. He dismissed the idea that it was a "no-show job" and called the storyline a conspiracy and "clickbait."
"I understand the full contract and the services I had to do," Leonard said. "I don't deal with conspiracies or the clickbait analysts or journalism that's going on."
When asked specifically if he was paid but didn't perform any services for Aspiration, Leonard said he doesn't feel that's "accurate."
"I don't think that's accurate. But it's old. This is all new to you guys but the company went bankrupt a while ago so we already knew this was going to happen."
Kawhi Leonard says he doesn’t deal with conspiracies or “clickbait analysts and journalism that’s going on.”
— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) September 29, 2025
Is it accurate that he didn’t perform any services for Aspiration?
“I don’t think it’s accurate…” pic.twitter.com/l8O7tjOScP
Leonard also said he believed Aspiration owed him more than $7 million when the company went bankrupt.
An eventful day for the Clippers and Leonard.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Kawhi Leonard Gives First Public Comments On Clippers Investigation, Aspiration Contract.
