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The NBA has disputed an ESPN report on the league’s investigation into possible salary cap circumvention by the Los Angeles Clippers.
On Monday, ESPN reported that, after an 11-month investigation, the NBA was not able to show proof that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer funneled money to Kawhi Leonard via team sponsorships to bypass the salary cap. The outlet also said the two sides have been “negotiating a resolution to the investigation”.
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“ESPN’s article regarding the LA Clippers investigation – for which the NBA declined to cooperate – contains numerous and significant inaccuracies,” league spokesperson Mike Bass said in a statement released Monday afternoon. “The results in this matter will be made clear once the investigation is concluded.”
Related: LA Clippers’ Steve Ballmer denies Kawhi Leonard salary-cap circumvention scheme
The league did not clarify which parts of ESPN’s reporting it was disputing.
Per the ESPN report, the NBA is looking into whether introducing Leonard to team sponsors violates the league’s rules against salary cap circumvention, and if the Clippers committed a “failure to supervise” regarding their employees. What rule the organization may have violated or the potential punishment is not yet known.
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The allegations first came to light last September in a report by journalist Pablo Torre. The Clippers were accused of feeding $28m to Leonard in the form of a “no-show” endorsement deal with Aspiration, a green-banking firm partly funded by Ballmer that went bankrupt last year.
Aspiration and three other companies that also signed sponsorship deals with the Clippers have been involved in the investigation, per the ESPN report. Aspiration’s co-founder wound up in prison after pleading guilty to fraud charges involving $248m.
According to ESPN, the league presented its initial findings late last month and has recently been in the process of resolving the investigation, which began in September.
In a statement to ESPN, the Clippers said the team “introduced players, including Kawhi Leonard, to companies with which we had business relationships….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nba-blasts-espn-inaccuracies-report-193135621.html
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Publish date : 2026-08-17 19:31:00
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