The scandal surrounding Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers has another chapter. A report published Thursday by journalist Pablo Torre – based on multiple sources connected to the Clippers and the Intuit Dome project – alleges that Leonard held an undisclosed sponsorship deal with Daktronics, the company that built the Clippers’ $100 million “Halo Board” scoreboard inside the arena. The deal, according to Torre’s sources, was worth millions of dollars. And by all accounts reviewed for the report, Leonard appears to have performed no identifiable work in exchange for it.
A second layer to the investigation
The NBA has been investigating the Clippers since 2025, initially focused on Leonard’s $28 million endorsement arrangement with Aspiration – a sustainability company that also held a $300 million partnership with the team and received substantial investment from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. Investigators viewed those overlapping financial ties as a possible structure for routing money to Leonard outside what the salary cap permits.
The Daktronics allegation follows the same template. The company, based in South Dakota, designed and built the arena’s video board system worth around $100 million. According to Torre’s reporting, Leonard was brought on as a paid sponsor of Daktronics with no public-facing deliverables on record.
One anonymous source with direct knowledge of the Intuit Dome project was blunt about what this meant: “It was 1,000% a way to circumvent the salary cap. It was funneling money from the Clippers through Daktronics back to Kawhi.” Daktronics’ spokesperson, when contacted by Torre’s team, declined to address the specifics, citing the ongoing NBA investigation.
The trade that cannot close
Meanwhile, the agreed-upon deal that would send Leonard from the Clippers to the Toronto Raptors remains on hold. The trade, announced June 30, would bring Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, and a substantial package of draft picks to Los Angeles. But the Raptors have refused to assume the financial risk of whatever penalties the league may impose on the Clippers as a result of the investigation. Toronto is waiting for the findings first.
The NBA probe was already reported to potentially extend into 2027 without a negotiated settlement. The Daktronics revelation adds another variable: either it strengthens the case for significant sanctions, or it makes any potential settlement more complicated to structure. Commissioner Adam Silver has made no public comment on the new allegations.
The pattern is becoming harder to dismiss
Two separate sponsorship arrangements – Aspiration and now Daktronics – both allegedly structured to move money from the Clippers organization to their franchise player beyond the cap. Whether the league views that pattern as sufficient grounds for formal sanctions, and what those sanctions look like, will shape everything from the Clippers’ draft future to the eventual fate of the Leonard-to-Toronto deal.
The revelations have come at a steady pace and there is no obvious sign they have stopped. The league’s next move is the one everyone in the NBA is now waiting for.
Per ESPN, Yahoo Sports, and ClutchPoints.
