Podcaster Pablo Torre shocked the NBA world on Wednesday morning when he reported that the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented salary cap rules by giving Kawhi Leonard a $28 million endorsement deal to pay him extra.
Later that day, NBA insider Jonathan Gambadoro added to the story, revealing that Leonard almost had a similar transaction in Toronto . However, it did not push through because he ended up signing with the Clippers after he led the Raptors to the 2019 NBA championship.
"This story is fascinating," Gambadoro wrote on "X" about Torre's exposé. "From what I know from sources, when Kawhi signed with the Clippers, the Toronto owner Larry Tanenbaum was beside himself because he believed he bent over backwards for Kawhi — including calling three sponsors to meet Kawhi's demand of an extra $15 million in endorsement money."
When the Raptors traded for Leonard in 2018, he was heading into the final year of his deal with the San Antonio Spurs — they took the risk of surrendering DeMar DeRozan for a one-year lease. The gamble paid off, with Leonard delivering the first championship in franchise history.
That offseason, the Raptors were determined to keep Leonard in Toronto. But he wanted to play close to home and narrowed his choices to the two Los Angeles teams. Ultimately, he picked the Clippers.
Back then, the story was that he did not want to play with LeBron James and instead wanted to build his own legacy with the "other" Los Angeles team. But after Wednesday's bombshell, there's obviously much more behind that story.
"This was brought to the attention of Adam Silver as a concern over the cheating going on in the league being out of control. But no action was taken as it was thought Tannebaum didn't truly understand the rules — only a promise to get more serious about it in the future," he added.
After Leonard signed with the Clippers in 2019, there were rumors that his uncle, Jerome Robertson, who served as his advisor, made crazy demands to the Los Angeles Lakers while negotiating in free agency, some of which were even deemed illegal . Jeanie Buss, naturally, rejected those requests.
"Sources say the league was told that Robertson asked team officials for part ownership of the team, a private plane that would be available at all times, a house and — last but certainly not least, a guaranteed amount of off-court endorsement money that they could expect if Leonard played for their team," Sam Amick of The Athletic reported .
While some people are convinced by Torre's allegations, others think his story is too fascinating to be true. But Garbadoro's revelation corroborates his accusations. Adding Amick's 2019 scoop about the Lakers, there seems to be a disturbing pattern related to Leonard.
If Commissioner Silver knew about it, this could open a can of worms.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 4, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
