Kawhi Leonard had an undisclosed sponsorship deal with video board company Daktronics, journalist Pablo Torre reported on his “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast Thursday.
A high-level contract employee at the Los Angeles Clippers’ Intuit Dome described Leonard’s previously unknown deal with Daktronics as “1,000% a way to circumvent the salary cap.”
“It was funneling money from the Clippers through Daktronics back to Kawhi,” that source alleged, according to Torre.
A former Clippers official who spoke to Torre also said that they knew “Kawhi had a sponsorship with Daktronics.” That individual described the agreement as a “multi-million-dollar deal.”
The Clippers did not respond to a request for comment when reached by ESPN late Thursday.
Daktronics produced the “Halo Board” in the Clippers’ Intuit Dome – a massive, double-sided looping digital scoreboard that remains the largest ever built in an arena. The company also produced six LED displays at Rhode Island FC – a United Soccer League club that Leonard had quietly invested in, Torre reported last week.
On July 14, The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov reported that the law firm conducting the NBA’s cap circumvention investigation into Leonard and the Clippers was now probing a second sponsorship deal. The league’s inquiry remains without a target date for completion but commissioner Adam Silver said last month he hoped to have it wrapped up “this summer.”
The lack of clarity surrounding a resolution has held up a blockbuster trade centered around Leonard, in which the Raptors agreed to reacquire their former Finals MVP in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, the right to swap another first-rounder, and two second-round picks. Silver said the NBA did not step in to halt the deal but that the teams “made a decision not to go forward given that the investigation remained open.”
