LOS ANGELES — The NBA has opened an investigation into the Clippers days after a lawsuit filed against the team and team consultant Jerry West alleged that West promised a man $2.5 million in exchange for helping the team sign star free agent Kawhi Leonard in 2019, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed Thursday.
In a statement to TMZ, which first reported the lawsuit filed by Johnny Wilkes, a representative for West dismissed the allegations.
“I deny engaging in any improper conduct in connection with the signing of Kawhi Leonard,” the representative told TMZ.
Wilkes’ lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleged that West and Wilkes met April 10, 2019 inside Staples Center and spoke on June 28, days before free agency began. Leonard, a Southern California native, was fresh off winning a title with the Toronto Raptors. During the June phone conversation West asked for Wilkes’ assistance, according to the lawsuit, in which Wilkes is described as “the best friend to Kawhi Leonard’s uncle, Dennis Robertson.”
The lawsuit alleges that close to July 4, the day before Leonard committed to joining the team following a trade with Oklahoma City that landed star forward Paul George, Wilkes told Robertson, “at the direction of Jerry West and the Clippers,” that Robertson would receive a house in Southern California, a travel expense account and that team owner Steve Ballmer would fund a marketing campaign for Leonard worth $100 million if Leonard joined the team.
A Clippers spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.
