NBA investigating Jerry West and the Clippers for Kawhi Leonard free agent chase

The NBA is investigating the LA Clippers over their free-agency pursuit of Kawhi Leonard.

Earlier this week, TMZ Sports published an article alleging that a man is suing LA Clippers executive Jerry West over not being paid for helping recruit Kawhi Leonard to Los Angeles in the 2019 NBA offseason.

According to the report, Johnny Wilkes, the man claiming to be a good friend of Leonard, says West owes him $2.5 million for helping land the superstar from the Toronto Raptors in free agency.

Now, it appears the NBA is launching an investigation to look into this report.

Jerry West denies any wrongdoing in the Clippers signing Kawhi Leonard

In the latest update from TMZ Sports, a representative for West says he did nothing improper and that West didn’t even know he was being sued.

“I am not aware of any lawsuit being filed against me and I deny engaging in any improper conduct in connection with the signing of Kawhi Leonard,” read the statement.

According to the original report, Wilkes says he first met with West back in April of 2019, letting the Clippers executive know that he had close ties with Kawhi Leonard and his uncle, Dennis Robertson. Wilkes says they exchanged contact information and a few weeks later, West asked for his help recruiting Leonard to come to LA. Wilkes said he’d only help for a sum of $2.5 million, and Wilkes says West agreed to those terms.

Wilkes also says he played an instrumental role in not only convincing the Clippers to trade for Paul George to reel Kawhi in, but also in how to pitch him in the free-agency meeting. These allegations were concerning enough for the NBA to look into, but only time will tell what comes of the investigation.