The NBA investigation into LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard has taken a new turn, with reports surfacing of an undisclosed sponsorship agreement between Leonard and Daktronics, the company behind the Clippers' state-of-the-art videoboard at the Intuit Dome. Former ESPN contributor Pablo Torre revealed the allegations on his podcast "Pablo Torre Finds Out" on Thursday, citing anonymous sources.

Torre interviewed an individual described as an "anonymous high-level source under contract for Intuit Dome" who claimed the sponsorship deal "was 1,000% a way to circumvent the salary cap. It was funneling money from the Clippers through Daktronics back to Kawhi." Another anonymous former Clippers official corroborated that they knew Leonard had a sponsorship arrangement with Daktronics, the South Dakota-based company that created "The Halo Board" — the largest double-sided halo display in any arena — inside the Intuit Dome, the Clippers' $2 billion venue in Inglewood, California, which opened in August 2024.

The Clippers had not responded to requests for comment Thursday evening. Daktronics, through a spokesperson, told Hunterbrook Media, which collaborated with Torre, that Leonard does not have an active contract with the company. The spokesperson added, "I don't know what the company wants to say, or can say, given the Wachtell investigation and all that," referring to Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, the law firm leading the NBA's probe into Leonard's April 2022 sponsorship deal with Aspiration, a green banking company that also had a sponsorship pact with the Clippers announced in September 2021.

The timeline of Leonard's alleged Daktronics deal remains unclear, as do the specific terms. However, the timing is notable: the NBA launched its investigation in September 2023 after a series of podcasts by Torre revealed internal documents showing Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration through his personal LLC in September 2021. That same month, the Clippers signed a 23-year, $300 million sponsorship with Aspiration, making the company the "first founding partner" of the Intuit Dome. Six months later, in April 2022, Aspiration signed a $28 million endorsement deal with Leonard.

An unnamed employee who claimed to have worked for Aspiration told Torre that Leonard's sponsorship deal was "to circumvent the salary cap." The Clippers have consistently denied funneling money through Aspiration to compensate Leonard. Ballmer stated that the team made an introduction between Aspiration officials and Leonard's camp but was not involved thereafter. He also said he lost his entire $60 million investment in Aspiration and was "flagrantly defrauded" by the company. Aspiration's co-founder Joseph Sanberg was sentenced in June to 14 years in federal prison for defrauding investors and lenders out of $248 million.

The latest Daktronics allegations add another layer to the ongoing investigation. In mid-July, The Athletic reported that NBA investigators had examined "a previously unreported endorsement deal with another company," which may now be linked to Daktronics. The league's probe, led by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, continues to scrutinize the financial relationships between team owners, sponsors, and players. The outcome could have significant implications for the Clippers and Leonard, potentially affecting the team's salary cap standing and Leonard's eligibility.