Sources: NBA interviews Leonard, adviser in Aspiration case - ESPN

LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard and his uncle and business adviser Dennis Robertson have been interviewed by NBA investigators amid the league's probe into allegations that the team circumvented the salary cap to compensate Leonard, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and other team executives have also sat for interviews, those sources said, as have executives for Aspiration, the now-defunct green banking company at the center of the allegations.

Before Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday in San Antonio, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that the investigation was «far along» and that the league is «close to the point now where I think we need to wrap this up.»

He did not specify a timeline for when the investigation would conclude but said the Clippers need «to understand what situation they are going to be operating under, and so do the other 29 teams.»

Publicly, the Clippers and Ballmer have denied the allegations and have adamantly maintained that there is no evidence supporting them.

But privately, some Clippers officials have grown frustrated trying to prove innocence for a violation they say they didn't commit, according to several sources with knowledge of their thinking. Despite their certainty that they did nothing wrong, team officials seem less sure about the outcome of the high-profile investigation and whether the league's richest owner will face punishment, the sources said.

ESPN spoke to people in and around the NBA about the investigation's possible outcomes. Though it's unclear what the probe has uncovered about the allegations of salary cap circumvention, some results could prompt pushback from the team, the National Basketball