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Henry Abbot on Clippers investigation: To me like their decision is we definitely want to keep Steve Ballmer. We don't want to kick him out like Donald Sterling, but we need to punish him enough that we look credible the next time Adam Silver has a difficult question in a press conference like the one you just played. So like what's the minimum viable punishment to get them there? And I would be very surprised if they're not negotiating that right now.
Pablo Torre: “And I found this very eye opening for obvious reasons perhaps. Um, for months I've been talking to multiple NBA owners and coaches and general managers and scouts who believe that the NBA does not want to punish its richest owner because Steve Balmer's $140 billion may be too critical to Adam Silver's ambitions at a time when money for growth for global expansion, which he was talking about on this stage earlier today in those chairs and all that money is in flux, right? It's an uncertain time economically. Everybody knows that. And this guy has in Mr. Ballmer a ton of it. And what one NBA head coach told me was, quote, ‘The aspiration situation deserved an immediate response. It affects the integrity of the league as well as competitive balance right now.’”
Pablo Torre: “As for my other Aspiration sources that I've been talking to for I started this investigation in February of 25. It's been more than a year. There are several key sources who say they've refused to talk to the NBA's investigators because they essentially see those investigators as working for the 140 billionaire who's ostensively being investigated. And when these sources tell me that it feels like the NBA is quote paying to borrow someone else's letterhead, it is hard to ignore what the NBA's high-powered law firm of choice has not been asking about which they are all talking about amongst themselves.” “But this is what's especially crazy to me about not asking about the team's owner in particular.”
The LA insider explained that there is some "bad blood" between the two teams, not surprising given that they are city rivals. "There's a little bad blood there, I would say, between the ownerships," Buha said. "Like, I don't think it's two franchises that like love each other." For context, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss once nicknamed Clippers owner Steve Ballmer "Ballz," and the Lakers still have some "egg on their face" from the Ivica Zubac trade with the Clippers. "I don't think the Clippers would love trading Kawhi to the Lakers," Buha noted. "And at that point, if you're forced to trade him, I think the league's not gonna be like, 'You have to trade him to the Lakers, you have to trade him to team X.' It's gonna be, 'Alright, let's get into a bidding war here.'
In the weeks leading up to Ballmer’s big bash, there was a significant upswing in league-wide speculation that the NBA’s hammer is likely to fall on the Clippers. This was a noticeable shift from earlier in the season, when so many seemed to believe that the Leonard/Aspiration scandal might come and go without any substantive punishment being handed down.
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That last part about the timing of it all is worth unpacking, as there has been chatter among rival teams for months now that the league was delaying its announcement for the sake of salvaging All-Star Weekend. Yet until the ruling comes, the Clippers’ every move will continue to be analyzed by league folks and fans alike.
Law Murray: Adam Silver on Clippers investigation: " I haven't come to any decisions whatsoever yet on the Clippers matter... from everything I've been told, the Clippers have been fully cooperative. But as I said, I'm not involved day to day in the investigation."
Kawhi Leonard registered his limited liability company in November 2021 and his $28 million contract with Aspiration took effect in April 2022. In December 2022, Aspiration was running out of money. Clippers minority owner Dennis J. Wong made a $2 million investment in Aspiration, which turned around and paid Leonard $1.75 million – the value of the quarterly payments called for in his contract with Aspiration. Ballmer then put another $10 million into Aspiration months later, as first reported by The Athletic, as part of a fundraising round in which Wong was the only new investor. The results of Wachtell’s probe of Leonard’s contract with Aspiration are not expected until after the NBA All-Star Game, which, coincidentally, Ballmer will host this weekend at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, the league’s newest arena, which cost Ballmer more than $2 billion to build.
Some interviewed by Wachtell during its investigations have questioned what the firm’s parameters are and if the NBA set them. One former Aspiration employee interviewed by Wachtell and granted anonymity by The Athletic to protect their privacy, said the questions in the interview were too pointed (echoing a similar criticism raised from the Sarver investigation). The former Aspiration employee said that they were asked about Leonard; his uncle and business manager Dennis Robertson; Aspiration and its internal dynamics; and the Clippers organization. The employee, however, said he was not asked about Steve Ballmer.
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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, himself a lawyer who once worked at another major New York law firm, will be the one to sift through the evidence and decide if punishment is warranted. He must not only weigh what Wachtell Lipton collects, but also consider public opinion and the beliefs of the other 29 teams, with the fastidious pleas of innocence from Ballmer, who is the league’s richest owner and world’s 10th-wealthiest man. Wachtell’s investigation into the Clippers is ongoing, league sources said; the whole league is waiting to see what the firm uncovers and if punishment from Silver follows. This has been the kind of work the law firm has done for the league for two decades, and how it has operated in the past could be indicative of how Wachtell approaches the allegations against the Clippers.
Anthony Slater: If Kawhi Leonard’s contract gets voided, then he just becomes a fascinating free agent. Brian Windhorst: Yes. You know, like I don't pretend to know what is going to happen or if they could find Kawhi guilty of, but I think it's very unlikely that he personally faces discipline.
Pablo Torre Finds Out: Clippers exec Lawrence Frank's four-year contract extension is "Ballmer hush money," according to multiple NBA executives, as the 10th place franchise faces the Aspiration investigation and multiple lawsuits.
Clippers exec Lawrence Frank's four-year contract extension is "Ballmer hush money," according to multiple NBA executives, as the 10th place franchise faces the Aspiration investigation and multiple lawsuits. pic.twitter.com/Skw4QsHhHW
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) February 11, 2026
Pablo Torre: I want to start with a quote from Michael Winger, who was the Clippers GM at the time, which I’ve confirmed from multiple sources inside the building. Quote: “How many side deals have we made with Kawhi?” And so, what does that mean? How many side deals are there? You get to the stuff that Dan was alluding to. One of these things, by the way, is documentation that Aspiration is just the tip. It starts in 2017, when Kawhi was with the Spurs. And the question, as always, is: what did Steve Ballmer know, and when did he know it? Well, in 2017, when Uncle Dennis and the Spurs and Kawhi are having their falling out over medical disputes and personal information, they go and they get— Randy Shelton, who was Kawhi’s trainer—his personal Tim Grover, as he put it in the episode in 2017—and they tell him, “We’re going to hire you if Kawhi comes to this team.”