The Los Angeles Clippers are facing some serious allegations over payments that were made to Kawhi Leonard from a company funded by Steve Ballmer, and an old social media post is adding fuel to the fire.
Pablo Torre shared some new investigative reporting on Wednesday that appears to show a link between Leonard and a tree-planting company called Aspiration — which received hundreds of millions in funding from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer — that filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. Torre uncovered documents that show that Leonard had a $28 million endorsement deal with Aspiration but never once publicly acknowledged the partnership or took part in any type of marketing.
Torre spoke with one former Aspiration employee who said he or she was told the deal with Leonard was “essentially to circumvent the salary cap” with the Clippers. You can read more details here.
Leonard may not have ever given Aspiration a public shoutout, but the Clippers did link the two together at one point. In a social media post wishing Leonard a happy birthday on June 29, 2023, the Clippers said Aspiration had agreed to plant one tree for every comment and retweet.
Happy Birthday, Kawhi!🥳
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) June 29, 2023
For every comment/retweet, @Aspiration will plant one tree for Kawhi's birthday! pic.twitter.com/dHOS8sgyWT
Fans dug up the old post and began ruthlessly trolling the Clippers.
— ProphetX Hoops (@ProphetXHoops) September 3, 2025
— Urbanplugg (❖,❖) (@Chosky_X) September 3, 2025
That’s so nice of you to do
— IcyVert (@IcyVert) September 3, 2025
*These trees in Kawhi’s yard pic.twitter.com/w7gJa9E4LD
— 👑🐐 (@LukaToBron) September 3, 2025
Aspiration’s bankruptcy filing came after it was reported that the company’s co-founder was arrested and facing felony fraud charges.
The Clippers have issued a statement saying allegations that they engaged in any misconduct with Leonard are “provably false,” but the entire situation is a terrible look for the franchise, at the very least. The NBA will likely have to investigate now, as well.
When Leonard signed with L.A., the NBA looked into claims that Leonard’s camp had made illegal requests to some teams while weighing options in free agency. Those claims look a lot more credible now.
