As the NBA investigates the Los Angeles Clippers over alleged salary-cap circumvention involving Kawhi Leonard and the now-bankrupt green investment firm Aspiration, one of basketball’s most influential voices isn’t buying the outrage.
On his podcast this week, Bill Simmons dismissed the backlash as performative and hypocritical, claiming that similar under-the-table dealings are widespread across the league.
“Some of the stories have talked about how furious other teams are… Get the f*** out of here. Half the league does this,” Simmons said on his podcast. “I wish I could say 10% of the stuff I’ve heard over the last 20 years… Everything you think is happening, is happening. Just period”.
The controversy centers around Leonard’s $28 million endorsement agreement with Aspiration, which reportedly allowed him to skip promotional duties while still receiving full payment. The deal also included $20 million in stock options. According to investigative reporting by Pablo Torre, a $1.75 million payment to Leonard’s KL2 Aspire LLC was made just nine days after Clippers minority owner Dennis Wong invested $1.99 million into Aspiration, raising suspicions that the payment was indirectly funded by team ownership.
The NBA is now probing whether this arrangement violated league rules by serving as an off-the-books salary supplement.
Simmons, known for pulling back the curtain on league politics, argued that the Clippers are simply the latest team to get caught with a paper trail. He suggested that the only reason this case is making headlines is because of the unusually detailed documentation, bank statements, internal spreadsheets, and employee testimony, all linking Wong’s investment to Leonard’s payout.
“Owners didn’t become billionaires by playing it straight all the time,” Simmons quipped, implying that creative compensation strategies are baked into the business model.
The Clippers, for their part, claim they were misled by Aspiration’s leadership and deny any wrongdoing. But the timing and structure of the payments have left many skeptical.
The NBA’s investigation is ongoing, and the league has yet to issue formal findings. If the Clippers are found to have violated cap rules, potential penalties could include fines, loss of draft picks, or restrictions on future contracts.
