Kawhi Leonard’s $28 million bombshell

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🚨 Headlines

🏈 Record-setting viewership: Ohio State’s win over Texas drew an average of 16.6 million viewers, making it the most-watched Week 1 college football game of all time.

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🏈 End of an era: Commercials are coming to NFL RedZone this season, longtime host Scott Hanson confirmed Wednesday. “Seven hours of commercial-free football” is officially dead.

🎶 Taylor Swift halftime show? Could Taylor Swift play the Super Bowl halftime show this season? “It’s a maybe,” said Roger Goodell on the Today Show.

🏀 Reese takes shots: Chicago Sky star Angel Reese put her team on notice in the midst of a dreadful 10-30 season, calling out players and coaches alike. She later apologized for the tone of her comments.

🚫 Streameast shut down: Streameast, the world’s largest illegal sports streaming platform, has been shut down after a year-long investigation. The network of 80 unauthorized domains generated 1.6 billion visits over the past year.

🏀 A $28 million NBA bombshell

Did the Clippers use a fraudulent endorsement to circumvent the NBA salary cap and retain Kawhi Leonard? That’s the claim in the latest bombshell report from journalist Pablo Torre.

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The claim: Leonard was allegedly paid $28 million for a no-show job with a now-bankrupt environmental firm called Aspiration, according to internal emails, contracts, bank statements and interviews.

• Aspiration, a “green bank” aiming to reduce the world’s carbon footprint, was partially funded by a $50 million investment from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, whose net worth is $153 billion.

• On Wednesday’s episode of “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” Torre said one of his sources from Aspiration, a former employee in their finance department, told him that Leonard’s “marketing” deal with the firm was simply a way for the team “to circumvent the salary cap.”

Source: I didn’t so much discover [Leonard’s deal] as I was told about it.

Torre: And what was your reaction? What were you told?

Source: My reaction was what the f***. And I was told … we have a $28 million marketing deal with Kawhi Leonard, and if I had any questions about it, essentially don’t [ask], because it was to circumvent the salary cap.

Torre: Did you ever see proof of Kawhi Leonard marketing or endorsing Aspiration in any way?

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Source: Never, not once. The single largest payment to an individual for marketing that Aspiration ever made has completely evaded all press. It’s honestly incredible. Nothing. He didn’t have to do anything.

How did Torre uncover this? Earlier this year, Aspiration filed for bankruptcy after their co-founder was arrested for wire fraud, which he pleaded guilty to last month. Among the outstanding creditors listed in the bankruptcy filing was an LLC called K2 Aspire, which is owned by Leonard. From there, Torre began connecting the dots.

• First, he found the terms of Leonard’s $28 million marketing deal — a four-year agreement signed in 2022 — which was odd considering the famously private superstar is not an obvious candidate for a company spokesperson.

• Just one month after Leonard signed a team-friendly extension in 2021, Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration. Two months after that, Leonard registered his LLC. The following spring, his deal with Aspiration kicked in. Mighty coincidental.

What they’re saying: The Clippers issued a statement denying the allegations. As for the league: “We are aware of this morning’s media report involving the LA Clippers and are commencing an investigation,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass told Yahoo Sports.

Zoom out: It’s hard to believe Ballmer invented such machinations involving team sponsors and deals with players. So if this is indeed a scandal, it’s likely not limited to one team. Could the Knicks have engaged in something similar when Jalen Brunson took a below market deal?

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• This is also hardly a groundbreaking strategy. Just look at the last few years in college sports, where new NIL rules allowed teams to entice recruits with generous payments under the guise of a third-party sponsorship.

• If the Clippers are found to have circumvented the salary cap — which commissioner Adam Silver called “a cardinal sin of the NBA,” and which last happened in 2000 — they could be subject to fines, lost draft picks, suspensions and even voided contracts.

Further reading: Will the NBA open Pandora’s box with investigation of Clippers and Kawhi Leonard? (Vincent Goodwill, Yahoo Sports)

🏈 NFL power rankings

The Eagles top our kickoff power rankings ahead of tonight’s game against the Cowboys, who come in at No. 22.

🎙️ “Network” debuts on Yahoo Sports

“Network with Rich Kleiman,” a new show from Yahoo Sports and Boardroom, premieres today.

What to expect: Hosted by Boardroom co-founder and CEO Rich Kleiman, “Network” is a talk show that delves into the intersection of sports, business and culture through candid conversations with prominent figures at the forefront of their fields.

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Kleiman on “Network”:

“As opposed to on Boardroom, where I’m interviewing people about their business and their life, this show is more of a peek into a real-life conversation I would have if I were out for dinner with my guest. When Strahan and I sat down for Episode 1… this is how I talk to my friends and my network.”

On Boardroom x Yahoo Sports:

“I think it’s a sign of where media is going. Partnership is going to be a very big component of how brands continue to grow and evolve. Instead of Yahoo saying, ‘we’re launching our version of Boardroom,’ you guys acknowledged and appreciated what we had built and knew that we could benefit from the monster that is Yahoo.”

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Episode 1: Michael Strahan (available now)

Upcoming guests: DK Metcalf, Mark Cuban, Karl-Anthony Towns, Ryan Clark, Donovan Mitchell, Taylor Rooks and more.

Network is available across Yahoo Sports platforms, including the newly-launched yahoosports.tv and Boardroom hub. Fans can also access it via boardroom.tv and all major podcast providers.

🎾 In photos: U.S. Open, Day 11

Naomi Osaka, welcome back. The four-time Grand Slam champ beat Karolína Muchová, 6-4, 7-6, to reach her first major semifinal since 2021. “I appreciate the journey a lot more now,” she said. “I’m grateful to be playing well in this city.”

Jannik Sinner continues to look just about unbeatable, dominating Lorenzo Musetti, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, to reach his fifth straight major semifinal. He’s now one win away from becoming the fourth player in the Open Era to reach all four Grand Slam finals in a year (Laver, Federer, Djokovic).

Amanda Anisimova got her revenge against Iga Świątek with a 6-4, 6-3 win, reaching her first U.S. Open semifinal less than two months after Świątek double-bageled her in the Wimbledon final. “Today is the most meaningful victory I’ve had in my life,” said the 24-year-old American.

Félix Auger-Aliassime, who hadn’t made it past the fourth round of a major in his last 14 tries, upset Alex de Minaur, 4-6, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6, to reach his second U.S. Open semifinal (2021). De Minaur, meanwhile, falls to 0-6 in Grand Slam quarterfinals.

📺 Watchlist: Thursday, Sept. 4

🏈 Cowboys at Eagles | 8:20pm ET, NBC

The Super Bowl champions open the 2025 NFL season at home as 8.5-point favorites against their division rivals. Game 1 of 272. Man, it feels good to be back.

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Betting preview: Odds, predictions, player props (Matt Russell, Yahoo Sports)

🎾 U.S. Open, Day 12 | 7pm, ESPN

The women’s semifinals are this evening at Arthur Ashe Stadium. First up: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka vs. No. 4 Jessica Pegula (7pm) in a rematch of last year’s final. Then it’s No. 8 Amanda Anisimova vs. No. 23 Naomi Osaka (8:10pm) in the nightcap.

Good read: Pegula out for revenge — and her first Grand Slam title (Dan Wolken, Yahoo Sports)

🏀 Lynx at Aces | 10pm, Prime

The MVP frontrunners collide in a matchup between two of the WNBA’s best teams, as Napheesa Collier and the top-seeded Lynx (32-8) visit A’ja Wilson and the red-hot Aces (26-14), who’ve won 12 straight games to climb to the No. 3 seed.

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Watch: How has the Aces surge impacted the standings and MVP race? (Caroline Fenton, Yahoo Sports)

More to watch:

• ⚾️ MLB: Phillies at Brewers (4:10pm, MLB) … Ranger Suárez (10-6, 3.02 ERA) and Freddy Peralta (16-5, 2.58 ERA) take the mound for two first-place teams.

Today’s full slate.

🏆 Super Bowl trivia

The Eagles are one of six NFL franchises with exactly two Super Bowl wins.

Question: Can you name the other five?

Hint: Three AFC, two NFC.

Answer at the bottom.

🏈 NFL Big Board: Clemson leads the way

Clemson may have lost its opener, but the Tigers still have one of the nation’s most talented rosters, with four of the top 30 players on Nate Tice’s first NFL Draft Big Board of the season.

• A pair of juniors lead the way in the top 10, with defensive lineman Peter Woods — a 6-foot-4, 300-plus pound interior game wrecker — at No. 1 and edge rusher T.J. Parker at No. 7.

• Another junior defender, lightning-fast cornerback Avieon Terrell, comes in at No. 19, and senior QB Cade Klubnik rounds things out at No. 28.

Other top programs: Oregon (3) has the second-most players in Nate’s top 30, followed by Ohio State, Texas, Auburn, Miami, Alabama and Utah (2 each).

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Big Board: Top 30 players

Trivia answer: Ravens, Dolphins, Colts, Rams, Buccaneers

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