Stephen A. Smith Kawhi Leonard First Take Steve Ballmer
Credit: First Take
Pablo Torre dropped his latest bombshell on Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers and this one may be a gamechanger.
After initially reporting that Leonard had a sponsorship deal with Aspiration that appeared to circumvent the NBA salary cap, Torre found a similar agreement with tech company Daktronics, the manufacturer of the Intuit Dome scoreboard.
The second questionable deal is increasing the avalanche of pressure on the Clippers, owner Steve Ballmer, and the entire league over what happens next. And on Friday’s episode of First Take, Stephen A. Smith gave his verdict. He suggested that both Ballmer and Leonard should be banned for a year.
“The Clippers are in a world of trouble… It should be entertained that Kawhi Leonard should be banned for a year.” 😬@stephenasmith comments on the controversy surrounding Kawhi Leonard’s sponsorship deal 👀 pic.twitter.com/6CJLpyH3mm
— First Take (@FirstTake) August 7, 2026
“This is egregious if it’s true. If it’s true, we’re talking about banishment for Steve Ballmer as far as I’m concerned for at least a year. It should be entertained that Kawhi Leonard should be banned for a year. He just took the money, but damn that,” Smith said. “The deal with Aspiration, that’s a green banking company that’s at the center of the NBA investigation going on now. To learn that you might have had another sponsorship deal worth millions of dollars with Daktronics? So you had not one but a couple of companies funneling money to you? To circumvent the salary cap with you getting this money but you also getting these additional dollars on the side illegally, because according to NBA bylaws, you ain’t supposed to be doing this? Nah, you can’t go for that.”
Stephen A. Smith had Pablo Torre on his podcast and echoed the sentiment that the hammer should come down on both Kawhi Leonard and the Cippers. Not only did he again suggest a one-year suspension for Leonard and Ballmer, but taking draft picks away from the Cilppers and voiding Leonard’s contract altogether.
Stephen A. Smith says the NBA needs to NUKE Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers if the cap circumvention allegations are true:
– Void Kawhi’s contract
– Ban Kawhi from playing next season
– Strip draft picks from the Clippers
– Ban Steve Ballmer from attending games https://t.co/EYBGciG2MK pic.twitter.com/laWQzMCuQX
— NBABase (@TheNBABase) August 7, 2026
The NBA investigation into Steve Ballmer, Kawhi Leonard, and the Los Angeles Clippers has been going on for far too long. And now that there’s another completely independent company who seems to have a similar scheme with Daktronics joining Aspiration, it represents the worst case scenario for the league office. Adam Silver and company have to be wondering how many more side deals is Pablo Torre going to unearth that circumvented the salary cap?
If Stephen A. Smith is going to call for this severe punishment for both Ballmer and Leonard, you can only imagine what is happening in the league itself when they may have learned about the reported Daktronics deal for the first time. It’s not just Leonard’s proposed trade to the Toronto Raptors that hangs in the balance, but his basketball future as well.