Kawhi Leonard’s 2019 free-agency process with the Los Angeles Lakers has resurfaced as part of the NBA’s investigation into potential salary-cap circumvention involving Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers.
According to Dan Woike of The Athletic, multiple league sources said Leonard’s representatives, including his uncle Dennis Robertson, asked the Lakers for benefits that would have violated the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement. The reported requests included private aircraft use, a home, guaranteed off-court earnings and an ownership stake in the franchise.
The Lakers reportedly told Leonard’s representatives that those benefits were impermissible and would constitute salary-cap circumvention. Leonard ultimately signed with the Clippers in July 2019 after leaving the Toronto Raptors, where he had just led the franchise to its first NBA championship and won Finals MVP.
The revelations come as the NBA continues investigating the Clippers’ relationship with Leonard and the now-bankrupt environmental company Aspiration. The investigation has focused on a reported $28 million endorsement agreement between Leonard and Aspiration, a former Clippers sponsor.
A separate report from the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast has also alleged that Leonard had an undisclosed sponsorship agreement with Daktronics, the company that manufactured the Intuit Dome’s Halo video screen. Multiple sources told the podcast that Leonard was a Daktronics spokesperson and that the agreement was worth “millions of dollars,” although the timing of the alleged deal remains unclear.
Daktronics, when asked to confirm whether Leonard had an endorsement agreement, referred questions to a crisis-management spokesperson. The spokesperson said, “My understanding is Daktronics doesn’t have a deal with Kawhi right now,” while declining to provide further clarification.
The NBA has not publicly determined that Leonard or the Clippers violated the collective bargaining agreement. Leonard has maintained his innocence, saying after the Clippers’ season that he believed the team would be “in the clear” and that he was “not stressing.”
Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank similarly said in February, “We’re on the right side of this.”
The investigation has also affected Leonard’s move back to Toronto. Commissioner Adam Silver said in July that the league did not pause the proposed Clippers-Raptors trade, but that the teams chose not to proceed while the investigation remained unresolved and the potential impact on Leonard’s contract was unknown.
If the NBA determines that the Clippers violated the CBA, the league could impose significant penalties, including millions of dollars in fines, the loss of first-round draft picks, discipline against owner Steve Ballmer or potentially the voiding of Leonard’s contract.
Silver previously said the investigation needs to be completed before the 2026-27 season begins. Until the league reaches a conclusion, the allegations surrounding Leonard’s 2019 free agency and his subsequent Clippers contract remain unresolved.
