Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard was snubbed from the NBA All-Star Game despite having a career-best scoring season. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst believes the league’s investigation into alleged contract violations may be why.
Leonard was not selected for this year’s All-Star Game at the Intuit Dome, his home arena. On Monday’s episode of ESPN’s “NBA Today,” Windhorst shared what he heard from NBA executives about Leonard’s absence from the team.
“The wonder is, did he not make this team because the coaches didn’t vote for him because of the accusations of the improper contract?” Windhorst said. “He is having a brilliant season, his highest-scoring season as a Clipper, and they have been one of the best teams in the league for the last six weeks.”
This season, Leonard is averaging 27.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. The Clippers are currently in ninth place in the Western Conference.
On a September 2025 episode of “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” financial documents revealed the company DEA 88 Investments had made a $1.99 million payment in December 2022 to Aspiration.
Days later, Aspiration made a $1.75 million payment to Leonard, the amount Aspiration was supposed to pay him as part of a deal between the two sides. When Torre looked deeper, he found that DEA 88 Investments was owned by James Wong, the only minority owner of the Clippers, who holds 1% of the team. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer owns the remaining 99%.
Torre also mentioned that Wong was Ballmer’s college roommate and that Wong’s daughter was an employee of Aspiration, with her roles in the company including product management, operations and strategy. The NBA is still conducting an investigation into the Clippers and the accusations.