The NBA said on Wednesday it will investigate if a $28m endorsement contract between Kawhi Leonard and a California-based sustainability services company allowed the Los Angeles Clippers to circumvent league salary cap rules, following a report by journalist Pablo Torre.

The Clippers strongly denied that any rules were broken and said they welcomed the league’s investigation.

The probe will focus on ties between Leonard, the Clippers and a company called Aspiration Fund Adviser, LLC, which filed for bankruptcy this year. It listed several creditors at that time, among them the Clippers (who were owed about $30m) and a company called KL2 Aspire LLC that was owed $7m.

Leonard is listed as the manager of that company in California filings. KL are his initials, and 2 is his jersey number. E

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