Kawhi Leonard and Steve Ballmer just got exposed for some serious salary shenanigans and the NBA might be bringing the hammer down. Pablo Torre reported on his podcast that Ballmer, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, created an entirely fake company (an environmental company, at that!) to pay Leonard an extra $7 million a year in money that didn’t count against the salary cap.
Exclusive: Kawhi Leonard signed a $28M endorsement deal for a “no-show job” with a fraudulent tree-planting company funded by $50M from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, according to documents obtained by @PabloTorre.
“It was to circumvent the salary cap,” an inside source says. pic.twitter.com/F6z5pNEkI1
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) September 3, 2025
The allegations make the most unfortunate reading for Kawhi, Ballmer, the Clippers, and even the NBA. But it is wonderful news for the rest of us. NBA Twitter is one of the most active communities on social media and once the news dropped, hoops fans pounced. Here are the best reactions to the scandal.
1.
Steve Ballmer already has a fall guy for this Kawhi Leonard business. pic.twitter.com/KOEleBIoNb
— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) September 3, 2025
2.
STEVE BALLMER: The fraudulent tree-planting company I invested in will pay you $28M and you don’t have to work at all.
KAWHI LEONARD: Okay.
STEVE BALLMER: Maybe you can work a little bit.
KAWHI LEONARD: pic.twitter.com/2muyOlR1db
— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) September 3, 2025
3.
Kawhi Leonard: https://t.co/6uroJkRJJY pic.twitter.com/YniF8qe1PZ
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) September 3, 2025
4.
Kawhi Leonard? The environmental philanthropist? pic.twitter.com/McYtSGuDwZ
— Mia Agraviador (@MiaAgraviador) September 3, 2025
5.
Kawhi Leonard has the face of a man getting $28M for doing nothing.
Norm Powell has the face of a man not getting paid to do some bullshit outside of work hours. pic.twitter.com/tMygoLUgvl
— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) September 3, 2025
6.
The tree-planting company that endorsed Kawhi Leonard pic.twitter.com/JjCEiKcHQu
— Hamz Talks Hoops (@hamztalkshoops_) September 3, 2025
7.
Kinda wild to be cheating and still never even made it to the finals Clippers gonna Clip
— Mel (@MB_cali) September 3, 2025
8.
Instead of placing a statue of Kawhi Leonard in front of the @LAClippers Intuit Dome, Steve Ballmer should just plant a tree there to honor Kawhi for his service to the team.
— Mark Nakata (@mrnonel) September 3, 2025
9.
Kawhi Leonard collecting his “tree planting” check every year pic.twitter.com/kRympGora2
— bob truck (@TruckBon) September 3, 2025
