Adam Silver created more questions than answers.
The Los Angeles Clippers, particularly team owner Steve Ballmer and star Kawhi Leonard, have been wrapped up in a scandal involving the now-bankrupt Aspiration, a green banking company.
The basis of the scandal centers around accusations that Leonard and the Clippers used a sponsorship with the banking company to circumvent the NBA salary cap and slide Leonard extra money, something that was first brought to light by Pablo Torre and prompted an investigation by the NBA.
That investigation is still ongoing, with reports that Aspiration's co-founder Joseph Sanberg apparently cooperating with the NBA's investigation.
Fallout From Aspiration
Sanberg was recently sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for defrauding Aspiration investors of $248 million by falsifying bank and brokerage statements and fraudulently acquiring loans, but where the NBA's investigation stands and how, if it all, Sanberg's sentencing affects the investigation is still up in the air.
A recent statement from NBA commissioner Adam Silver on the state of the investigation publicized by The Athletic's Law Murray has done little to provide clarity on the situation.
“I think I wouldn't be doing my job if ultimately, I issued a determination based on perception. My job is to follow the facts… I don't have a specific timeline on when they will be completed. I think it's clear that they're far along," Silver said of the investigation.
That update from Silver raises more questions than answers.
Ultimately it shows that the NBA is keeping the details of their investigation close to the vest and given how public the news of the scandal has been since it first broke and how explosive the implications are, the NBA may be trying to guard the results of the investigation from being affected by public opinion.
What Does This Mean For Kawhi?
That also what exactly the consequences of the investigation would be if the Clippers, or Leonard, were found to be in the wrong for anything that transpired between the team and Aspiration.
The details of the investigation being murky keep any potential consequences murky as well.
But, it doesn't seem like the possibility of a hammer dropping on Leonard from the NBA has muddied his perception amongst the league.
Leonard remains one of the premier trade targets in the NBA after coming off one of the best seasons of his career and if the Clippers were to trade him, it's possible that his new destination would have to deal with the consequences to their player.
Whatever transpires in the coming months in regard to the investigation remains to be seen and one of the few updates that Silver himself has given certainly hasn't cleared anything up.
