LOS ANGELES (AFP) — The Los Angeles Clippers circumvented National Basketball Association (NBA) salary cap rules by paying superstar Kawhi Leonard $28 million for a job that didn’t exist, according to allegations in the Pablo Finds Out podcast on Wednesday.

Journalist Pablo Torre cited legal documents in reporting that Leonard was paid through a now-bankrupt tree-planting company called Aspiration in which Clippers owner Steve Ballmer was a key investor.

Torre reported that Leonard signed a contract worth $28 million over four years to market and endorse Aspiration but never did so.

An unnamed employee who purportedly worked for Aspiration told Torre that the payment to Leonard “was to circumvent the salary cap.”

The Clippers responded to Torre with a statement denying the allegations.

“Neither Mr. Ballmer nor the Clippers circumvented the salary cap or engaged in any misconduct related to Aspiration,” the statement said.

“Any contrary assertion is provably false.”

Leonard, an NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs and the Toronto Raptors, joined the Clippers in a blockbuster deal in 2019 after leading the Raptors to the title.

A free agent, he took less money than Toronto offered to play alongside Paul George and return to his hometown of Los Angeles.

He signed a three-year contract extension worth a reported $153 million in January 2024.