Kawhi Leonard investigation: Adam Silver gives update during All-Star Weekend

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INGLEWOOD, Calif. -  The Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers, took center stage as host of the 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend.

While the weekend spotlights and celebrates basketball’s biggest stars, a scandal looms over the Clippers as fans await the findings of a league investigation.

Ahead of the season, a bombshell report alleged that Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard was paid $28 million under the table to help the team evade the NBA’s salary cap.

What we know:

A report from Pablo Torre alleges Leonard was paid $7 million per year through a fraudulent endorsement deal with Aspiration, a tree-planting company.

Torre obtained documents related to a bankruptcy filing that included a list of creditors and entities. Among them was "KL2 Aspire LLC," a name referencing Leonard’s initials and jersey number.

"Every other celebrity Aspiration gave money to was well known," Torre said. "But the number of times that I found Kawhi Leonard publicly referencing Aspiration: zero times."

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

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• Kawhi Leonard appears unfazed by scandal: 'I've been through times like these before'
• NBA will not rush judgment in Kawhi Leonard investigation, Commissioner Adam Silver says

What they're saying:

Ahead of Saturday afternoon’s events at the Intuit Dome, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addressed the status of the investigation.

"I haven't come to any decisions whatsoever yet on the Clippers matter," Silver said. "As you know, the league office is not directly running the investigation. It's being overseen by a law firm, Wachtel, in New York."

He added, "From everything I've been told, the Clippers have been fully cooperative. But as I said, I'm not involved day-to-day in the investigation."

Silver described the matter as "complex."

"You have a company in bankruptcy. You have thousands of documents, multiple witnesses that have needed to be interviewed," he said. "Just in case anyone's wondering, the fact that All-Star is here this weekend has had no impact on the timeline of the investigation. Our charge to the Wachtel law firm is: do the work, then come back and make recommendations to the league office. And that’s where things now stand."

Dig deeper:

Leonard has been pivotal in helping the Clippers rebound this season. Entering the All-Star break, the team sits two wins shy of .500.

He is averaging 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.

Ahead of the All-Star Game, Silver appointed Leonard as a reserve, marking his seventh career All-Star appearance.

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"I’m not looking for handouts," Leonard said Saturday. "I was just going to keep putting in the work. I didn’t get down. There was a lot going on at that time as well. I just wanted to focus on the team. And like I said, for everybody that got the nod, they deserved it."

Leonard and the Clippers maintain they are on the right side of the issue and do not believe the investigation played any role in his initial All-Star snub.

"I don't think Adam Silver would let something like that play into how a player is playing on the court. Especially me," Leonard said.

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What's next:

The 75th NBA All-Star Game will take place Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Intuit Dome.

Leonard, who grew up in Moreno Valley and is the sole Clipper on the All-Star roster, said he’s looking forward to playing in Los Angeles.

"It’s very exciting," Leonard said. "Especially being so young, the architecture, the way it was built — it’s amazing. And especially being in LA."