Kawhi Leonard and Dennis Robertson, the Los Angeles Clippers star's uncle and adviser, have been interviewed by investigators from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, according to ESPN. The league hired the New York-based law firm last September to investigate allegations, first reported by Pablo Torre Finds Out, that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested $50 million in a so-called green bank called Aspiration to circumvent the salary cap and direct more money to Leonard.
Investigators have also interviewed Ballmer, Clippers executives and former Aspiration executives, per ESPN. Ballmer, the Clippers and Leonard have publicly denied the allegations. On Monday, Aspiration co-founder Joe Sandberg was sentenced to 14 years in prison for defrauding investors.
In a press conference before Game 1 of the NBA Finals in San Antonio on Wednesday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver told reporters he didn't have a timeline for completing the investigation. It's unclear how severe the punishments could be.
"The investigation is being conducted by a law firm independent of the NBA," Silver said. "I mean, yes, ultimately we are paying their bills, but they are doing the work independent of the league office. My instruction to them is we can't be investigating forever and at some point we have to wrap it up, but at the same time, I think the most important thing is we get it right."
Silver added that the investigation is "far along," and that the investigators "understand that you could keep going on and on, but I think we are close to the point now where I think we need to wrap this up because you also need finality. The team has to understand what situation they are going to be operating under, and so do the other 29 teams."
In May, Pablo Torre Finds Out won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting for its work on this subject. On Friday morning, it released the 11th installment of the series. Silver has said all along that he has "very broad" powers to issue discipline if investigators find that cap circumvention did indeed occur. On Wednesday, he said that his job is to "follow the facts" rather than make a "determination based on perception."
"What essentially happens here is that the factual report, together with findings, will be made by this independent firm," Silver said. "That's presented to me. It's then, ultimately, my role to determine what the appropriate discipline, if any, should be meted out based on their findings."
