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The NBAs investigation into Kawhi Leonards deal with Aspiration keeps dragging on, but a new discovery shows the bizarre extent of the situation.
As the Clippers, Raptors, and Leonard await a decision from the NBA over the matter to continue their offseason business, more details of the alleged no-show sponsorship deal are emerging.
A new detail is that Aspirations marketing team went out of their way to find a way to integrate Leonard into a marketing campaign for their tree-growing initiatives.
The Athletic has revealed that Aspirations employees presumed Leonard would feature in a marketing campaign after signing on to a $20 million endorsement deal.
As a result, they came up with a campaign that made Leonard seem like Groot from Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.
The efforts went so far as to create images, reviewed by The Athletic, of Leonard as an offshoot of Marvels Groot Aspirations purpose was a promise to plant trees to offset carbon footprints.
The NBA's Aspiration x Kawhi Leonard investigation has grown in scope.
The Athletic (@TheAthletic) July 14, 2026 The company discussed using Leonard in a marketing campaign, according to multiple former employees who spoke with The Athletic.
Those efforts went so far as to include mockups depicting Leonard as an..
pic.twitter.com/xopVfGebyY But after weeks of trying to work with the Marvel concept and brainstorm other ideas, the creative team was told to quit, according to multiple former Aspiration marketing employees.
Stop thinking about Kawhi, the person said they were told.
This feels like a dead end.' Leonard has never been the kind of athlete big companies go out of their way to recruit for major marketing promotions, given his non-existent social media presence and quiet personality.
It seems there was due diligence put in to create a campaign around Leonard before higher-ups squashed the plans.
Its unclear how this plays into the investigation, but the league has an obligation to investigate it thoroughly before taking a step like penalizing the Clippers future assets, voiding Leonards contract, or handing out a suspension to Leonard and specific involved executives, and potentially, the owner.
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