The Kawhi Leonard case expands: Daktronics also emerges
According to an ESPN investigation, Kawhi Leonard allegedly had an undisclosed sponsorship agreement with Daktronics, the company involved in the construction of the Intuit Dome
The NBA investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard has gained a new chapter. According to ESPN, the Clippers star allegedly also had an undisclosed sponsorship agreement with Daktronics, the company that designed the iconic “Halo Board” at Intuit Dome, the new home arena of the California franchise.
The news comes from the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast, in which journalist Pablo Torre cited an anonymous source described as an executive under contract with Intuit Dome. According to this testimony, the agreement was used to circumvent the salary cap.
It was one thousand percent a way to circumvent the salary cap. The money went from the Clippers to Daktronics and then to Kawhi
Anonymous source
According to Torre, a former Clippers executive, who also remained anonymous, allegedly confirmed being aware of the business arrangement between Leonard and Daktronics, the South Dakota-based company that built the arena’s massive suspended video board, which opened in August 2024.
At the moment, it is unclear when the contract was signed or what its financial terms were. A Daktronics spokesperson, contacted by Hunterbrook Media, said that Leonard does not currently have an active contract with the company, adding:
I don’t know what the company wants to say, or can say, given the Wachtell investigation
Daktronics spokesperson
The reference is to Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, the law firm hired by the NBA to conduct the investigation into the agreement between Kawhi Leonard and Aspiration, a company that already had a business partnership with the Clippers.
The investigation was opened last September after the publication of internal documents showing a personal investment of $50 million by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer in Aspiration in September 2021. That same month, the franchise signed a $300 million sponsorship agreement with the company over 23 years, making it the first founding partner of Intuit Dome.
Six months later, Aspiration signed a $28 million sponsorship agreement with Leonard. The Clippers have consistently and forcefully denied any allegations, rejecting the claim that they used Aspiration to indirectly compensate Leonard. Ballmer also reiterated that the franchise merely connected Aspiration executives with the player’s management team, without participating in the subsequent negotiations.
Ballmer has also stated that he lost his entire investment, totaling $60 million, claiming that he was “blatantly defrauded” by the company. Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg was sentenced last June to 14 years in federal prison for defrauding investors and financial institutions of $248 million.