Category: NBA

The long-awaited results of the NBA's investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers' alleged salary cap circumvention practices were finally released on Wednesday, Sept. 2, and the fallout is just beginning.

Among the punishments handed out, the Clippers must forfeit five first-round draft picks and pay a $30 million fine. Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers' superstar at the heart of the scandal, has been fined $700,000. Additionally, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and president of business operations Gillian Zucker have been suspended by the league for one year. Lawrence Frank, the team's president of basketball operations, has been suspended for six months.

The official investigation report from the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz explicitly lays out why the organization is facing the brunt of the penalties. Throughout the 36-page document, investigators state the three individuals most responsible for the Clippers’ rule-breaking are Ballmer, Zucker and Frank, and call out the organization for obfuscating the investigation's efforts.

The report also notes investigators "continue to receive information relevant to the subjects discussed in this report" and will supplement their findings as appropriate. Wachtell Lipton said it conducted 73 interviews of 60 people and reviewed 200,000 pages of documents.

Here are 13 must-read segments from the investigation. Each is quoted directly from the report.

1. "Investigators endeavored to conduct their work as expeditiously as possible. This effort was challenged by, among other things, the approach of the Clippers and their outside counsel, who at times delayed in responding to requests for information and operated in an adversarial or obfuscatory manner that slowed investigators' ability to gather the facts."
2. "Over the course of the investigation, Ms. Zucker made several statements that proved inconsistent with contemporaneous documents, other witness statements, and the broader chronology of events, professed a lack of recollection on important issues, placed responsibility on subordinates, and offered inconsistent renditions of facts in separate interviews. By contrast, Mr. [Lawrence] Frank openly discussed with investigators his conduct from the relevant time period, recalled details of key events, took responsibility for the actions of subordinates, and was generally consistent across his interviews. While the determination of any consequences for the rules violations described herein lies with the NBA, investigators believe that it would be appropriate in making such determinations to take cooperation and credibility – or the lack thereof – into account."
3. "The Clippers were especially aware of the CBA’s circumvention rules in this area because the NBA had previously found that the team violated them. In 2015, in circumstances similar to the matter at hand, the Clippers engaged in efforts to facilitate an endorsement agreement between DeAndre Jordan – a player the Clippers were then seeking to sign in free agency – and an incoming team sponsor. The League investigated this matter, determined that the rules had been broken, and fined the Clippers $250,000."
4. "The Clippers were also aware of circumvention concerns specifically related to Mr. Leonard. In July 2019, Mr. Leonard became a highly sought-after free agent after winning the NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors. In his dealings with the Clippers and several other interested teams, Mr. Robertson (on Mr. Leonard’s behalf) made numerous requests for benefits that were prohibited under the CBA, including equity in teams, housing, access to private transportation, and off-court income such as endorsement deals. Mr. Leonard ultimately signed a player contract with the Clippers. The NBA subsequently questioned the Clippers about these matters, and the team – while acknowledging Mr. Robertson’s improper requests – denied agreeing to accommodate them. The NBA’s investigation of the team was left open pending receipt of further evidence." 
5. "The Clippers advanced a novel theory addressing one part of the conduct at issue here: that NBA rules permit affirmative (not responsive) introductions of players to business partners for the purpose of helping them generate off-court income if such introductions are requested by the player or his representative. The Clippers offered no persuasive explanation for how this theory comports with the clear language of the circumvention rules referenced above, the correct understanding of the rules previously expressed by Mr. Ballmer, Ms. Zucker, and Mr. Frank, or the fundamental purpose of the CBA’s circumvention rules to prevent teams from providing outside income opportunities for players. The Clippers’ position is particularly suspect, as will be described further below, because the team took pains to ensure that its 'introduction' emails to team partners were written to appear to be “responsive” to requests from those partners."
6. "In early June 2020, at the time of Ms. Zucker’s 'introductions,' none of Boingo, Daktronics, and Lockton had commercial agreements with the Clippers, but all three companies were in active discussions to provide business services to the team or its arena. Within weeks following the 'introductions,' either before or on the same day as the companies signed endorsement agreements with Mr. Leonard, each company entered into a multi-million dollar consulting agreement with the Clippers. Two of the companies received almost the entirety of their consulting fees up front – in payments of $10 million each, delivered prior to these companies entering into endorsement agreements with Mr. Leonard."
7. "Ms. Zucker had personal relationships at two of the companies. At one, her husband was chair of the board of directors during the relevant time period, and she also had a 30-year working relationship with that company’s CEO. At another, Ms. Zucker had a longstanding relationship with the company’s president (the person who signed the company’s endorsement deal with Mr. Leonard), and she recommended him as “really good people” in an email to an internal colleague charged with the process of securing services for the Clippers in this area."
8. "The facts surrounding the Daktronics-Leonard endorsement agreement make the conclusion explicit: that company’s agreement with Mr. Leonard was not arranged independently of the Clippers, by virtue of Daktronics’ affirmative interest in Mr. Leonard’s services as an endorser or as a result of any request it made to Ms. Zucker for an “introduction.” Rather, investigators conclude, it was procured by the Clippers in exchange for other business that the team would and did supply to Daktronics. ... Daktronics believed that failing to enter into a commercial relationship with Mr. Leonard could jeopardize its ability to win the bid for the Intuit Dome."
9. "Investigators note, however, that the Clippers’ misconduct may have been even more severe. As set forth above, the timing of the three endorsement agreements with Mr. Leonard coincides with each of the companies receiving multi-million dollar payments from the Clippers, purportedly in connection with business to be provided by these companies to the team. But these payments may in fact have been made principally to fund the endorsement deals with Mr. Leonard."
10. "During the investigation, it was discovered that the Clippers had made such payments on behalf of Mr. Leonard, his family, and Mr. Robertson during Mr. Leonard’s tenure with the team. A detailed analysis then followed, substantiating hundreds of instances in which the team paid for personal air and ground travel, accommodations, gifts, and tickets without then properly deducting the amounts of these expenditures from Mr. Leonard’s pay (as it was required to do by CBA rules)."
11. "The NBA’s rules enforcement initiative also included a training session on the CBA’s circumvention rules conducted with each team and its senior leadership. On December 4, 2019, in the same time period as the misconduct detailed in this report, the League provided this training to the Clippers, including Mr. Ballmer, Ms. Zucker, Mr. Frank, and other team personnel."
12. "Mr. Robertson communicated a target: he expected the Clippers’ assistance in obtaining approximately $10 million per year for Mr. Leonard. He communicated these demands primarily to Mr. Frank, but also to Mr. Ballmer and Ms. Zucker. There is no evidence that any of these individuals told Mr. Robertson to stop making such improper requests or – as required by NBA rules – reported them to the NBA."
13. "In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the NBA. In April 2020, Mr. Robertson spoke with Mr. Ballmer and Mr. Frank to express his frustrations about what he perceived to be a lack of effort by the Clippers to facilitate off-court business opportunities for Mr. Leonard. According to contemporaneous notes kept by Mr. Frank."

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The 13 most damning details you must read from NBA's report on Clippers

The NBA’s $30 million penalty was aimed at the Clippers.

The five missing first-round picks were a warning to every billionaire owner like Steve Ballmer.

By hammering Los Angeles for circumventing the salary cap through off-court opportunities for Kawhi Leonard, the NBA did more than punish one franchise. It drew a boundary around one of the biggest advantages available to modern owners: the enormous business networks surrounding their teams.

According to the 36-page report from independent investigator Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, that boundary was hardly ambiguous.

NBA rules prohibit teams from actively creating endorsement opportunities for players. Investigators found the Clippers crossed that line, steering Leonard toward four companies doing business with the franchise and using Clippers business to help induce those deals.

The clearest example involved Daktronics. While competing for the Intuit Dome scoreboard contract, the company was encouraged to include a Leonard endorsement worth $3 million annually. Investigators said Daktronics believed refusing could jeopardize its Clippers business.

That is exactly the type of leverage that poses a problem for a salary-capped league — and the potential danger had already surfaced while the NBA was still investigating the relationships between Leonard, the Clippers and team sponsors.

The cap is designed to keep the richest owners from simply buying better rosters. But modern sports billionaires possess financial power far beyond payroll: sponsors, corporate relationships, arenas, real estate and multiple franchises.

That concentration was on display in Los Angeles just one day before the Clippers ruling, when Rams owner Stan Kroenke agreed to purchase the Angels for a record price of more than $3.9 billion.

There is no suggestion Kroenke has done anything improper. But adding the Angels to an empire already featuring the Rams, Nuggets, Avalanche, Rapids and Arsenal illustrates how much business influence can surround a single ownership group.

Private equity is accelerating the same trend. As franchise valuations soar — highlighted recently by the Lakers’ record $12.5 billion sale — leagues have increasingly opened their doors to institutional capital, further connecting teams to sprawling networks of investors and businesses.

The result is a sports economy populated not simply by rich owners, but by interconnected webs of billionaires, investment firms, sponsors and corporate partners.

The Clippers had also been warned about this territory before. The NBA fined them $250,000 in 2015 for improperly facilitating an endorsement opportunity for DeAndre Jordan.

After Dennis Robertson made prohibited requests during Leonard’s 2019 free agency, the league launched a broader enforcement initiative and personally trained Ballmer, Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker on its circumvention rules. All three later told investigators they understood them.

That history helps explain why the NBA eventually dropped one of its harshest organizational punishments ever: five first-round picks, suspensions, five years of monitoring and the $30 million fine.

Draymond Green predicted the stakes before the ruling.

“If the punishments aren’t steep, everybody should do it,” Green said.

The NBA clearly saw that as a concern.

It can’t cap an owner’s wealth. But it can make sure that wealth doesn’t become a second payroll.

Nearly a year to the day that Pablo Torre published his first episode reporting on the Kawhi Leonard cap circumvention saga with a company called Aspiration, the league has finally doled out punishment to both Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Clippers certainly came away worse for wear than the All-NBA forward they signed back in 2019. Per Shams Charania of ESPN, they were stripped of five first round draft picks, given a $30 million dollar fine to governor Steve Ballmer, as well as suspensions for Ballmer and executives Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker. Leonard was hit with a measly $700,000 dollar fine while Dennis Robertson, his uncle and former agent, was banned by the NBA from all business dealings.

BREAKING: The NBA has ruled on the Los Angeles Clippers in for salary cap circumvention investigations on Kawhi Leonard after yearlong probe — stripping the franchise of 5 first-round picks, issuing a $30 million fine to owner Steve Ballmer and suspensions for Ballmer, Lawrence… pic.twitter.com/JCV5bI88BE

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 2, 2026

So here’s how these different punishments will affect the Sixers, because there are several ways they could. Obviously, the Clippers owe the Sixers a first-round swap in 2029, the year Charania reported the Clippers will begin to be stripped of draft picks.

The good news is that won’t be impacted by this punishment. Zach Lowe of The Ringer reported that the 2029 first rounder that will be stripped from the Clippers will be the Indiana Pacers’ first rounder owed to them from the trade that sent Ivica Zubac to Indiana. After Lowe’s report, both Derek Bodner of PHLY and Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice confirmed that the Sixers’ pick swap will remain intact.

Emergency ZL Show coming later tonight, but one detail for now — sources say that in 2029 the Clippers will be forfeiting the Indiana Pacers pick obtained via the Zubac trade, but that the pick will not be returned to the Pacers.

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) September 2, 2026

The Sixers remain in control of the pick swap, but it hasn’t gotten any easier to project how valuable that will be. With the new lottery rules in place, it feels impossible to predict so far out. The Clippers are a team that hasn’t really tanked since Ballmer bought them, and they certainly won’t be incentivized to without control of any of their picks.

Still, they were a team that wasn’t able to get out of the Play-In tournament, and now it seems they’ll officially be replacing Leonard with Brandon Ingram. The Toronto Raptors re-acquired Leonard in a trade early in the offseason, but the league put that deal on hold until the cap circumvention investigation was completed. Now that it has without Leonard’s contract being voided or suspended, there’s nothing stopping his return to Toronto. In the statement he released to Charania, Leonard expressed his desire to move forward with a clean slate in Toronto.

So as we preview the Eastern Conference, it’s time to finally sharpie Leonard into that Raptors roster. He presents just as many, if not more injury concerns for getting through the playoffs as this Sixers roster does. But a 46-win team swapping out Ingram for Leonard certainly won’t be getting worse.

The Clippers received one of the harshest punishments in NBA history.

Kawhi Leonard did not.

Despite being found in violation of the same salary-cap rules, he escaped with comparatively little damage.

That contrast has become the biggest question following the league’s salary-cap circumvention ruling, which cost Los Angeles five first-round picks and hit owner Steve Ballmer with a $30 million penalty. Ballmer, Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker were also suspended.

Leonard owes $700,000 in restitution. He wasn’t suspended. More importantly, his contract survived.

The NBA’s collective bargaining agreement and the findings of its yearlong investigation help explain how Leonard landed so softly.

The league hired Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to investigate how the Clippers helped generate lucrative off-court opportunities for their star.

Under Article XIII of the CBA, players can be fined, forced to return improper benefits or have their contracts voided for circumvention. The provision allowing suspensions of up to one year, however, specifically applies to team personnel.

So Leonard avoiding suspension isn’t the biggest surprise.

The real escape was keeping his contract.

And that may come down to what investigators could — and could not — prove Leonard personally knew.

Wachtell found Leonard violated the CBA through Dennis Robertson, his uncle and former business representative, who repeatedly pushed Clippers officials to create outside income opportunities for Leonard.

Leonard was hardly unaware of the money.

He signed lucrative endorsement deals generated through those efforts and personally requested changes to the cash and equity structure of his proposed Aspiration agreement.

But the investigation draws an important line between knowing the deals existed and knowing how the Clippers were making them happen.

Wachtell did not find that Leonard personally knew the Clippers were directing business toward companies in exchange for benefits flowing back to him. It also stopped short of concluding Leonard understood that those arrangements amounted to salary cap circumvention.

That gap proved extremely valuable.

Robertson made the demands. Clippers executives worked to satisfy them. Leonard received the benefits.

But Robertson’s position between Leonard and the organization made it considerably harder to establish how much of the machinery Leonard himself understood.

In effect, Robertson became a buffer — and now, whether intentionally or not, something resembling a fall guy.

The report does not say Leonard deliberately used his uncle that way. But Robertson is the person whose conduct established Leonard’s violation while simultaneously providing Leonard separation from the conduct investigators considered most serious.

The assignment of blame drives that point home.

Wachtell identified Ballmer, Zucker and Frank — not Leonard — as the three people “most responsible” for the violations. Robertson, whom Leonard fired in June, has since been banned from NBA business dealings.

Leonard therefore emerged in an unusual position: Investigators determined that his representative broke the rules on his behalf and that Leonard received the resulting benefits, yet they stopped short of finding that Leonard knowingly participated in the Clippers’ method of circumventing the cap.

That distinction appears to have saved him from much worse.

It doesn’t mean Leonard was cleared. He wasn’t.

It means the evidence created enough separation between Leonard and the mechanics of the scheme that the NBA chose not to impose the most severe player-specific remedy available to it.

Robertson may not have been Leonard’s intentional fall guy, but he became an effective buffer.

The Clippers took the full force of the punishment. Leonard kept his contract, avoided suspension and largely walked away with the damage contained.

The NBA issued stiff penalties for the Los Angeles Clippers, team owner Steve Ballmer and their former star forward Kawhi Leonard on Wednesday, Sept. 2, after an 11-month investigation found they violated salary cap circumvention rules.

The league levied fines of $30 million for the Clippers and $700,000 fine for Leonard, who denied any knowledge of wrongdoing but said he will accept the penalties.

Additionally, the NBA suspended Ballmer from all league activities for the next year; team president of business operations Gillian Zucker for one year without pay; and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank for six months without pay.

"I am deeply disappointed by the flagrant violations of our rules and by the Clippers’ institutional and leadership failures that led to this misconduct," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in statement. "The severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations."

The Clippers denied the league's findings, calling it "a biased investigation" and said they would challenge the findings and punishments.

Here's what the Clippers' draft pick situation looks like for the foreseeable future.

Clippers first-round picks

The Clippers will forfeit five first-round draft picks in the coming years.

Which draft picks did Clippers lose?

The Clippers lost their first-round picks in 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033.

Can the Clippers draft in 2027?

Technically, yes, via a pick swap. The Oklahoma City Thunder have the right to swap with the Clippers if LA's draft position, based on record and lottery results, is more favorable than either OKC's slot or Denver's pick, which is top-five protected.

Lorenzo Reyes contributed reporting.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Clippers' punishment forces forfeiture of first-round draft picks. What's left?

Count me among the cynics who thought that Steve Ballmer was simply too rich, too friendly with NBA commissioner Adam Silver, and had too many lawyers to face serious punishment for his team’s blatant attempts to circumvent the salary cap with a series of shady endorsement deals for Kawhi Leonard. The punishment Silver and the NBA handed down Wednesday is serious indeed.

BREAKING: The NBA has ruled on the Los Angeles Clippers in for salary cap circumvention investigations on Kawhi Leonard after yearlong probe — stripping the franchise of 5 first-round picks, issuing a $30 million fine to owner Steve Ballmer and suspensions for Ballmer, Lawrence… pic.twitter.com/JCV5bI88BE

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 2, 2026

It’s a huge penalty for the Clippers, who will forfeit their first-round picks from 2029 to 2033. That’s almost as much as they gave up to get Paul George! The Clippers’ 2027 and 2028 firsts are already encumbered by trades, so they’ll lose the next five, leaving them with only the Indiana Pacers’ pick in 2029 and the Toronto Raptors’ draft picks in 2031 and 2033.

Leonard’s own punishment was only a $700K fine, so presumably the Raptors will no longer object to completing their earlier deal for The Claw, and he can move on to no-show deals with Tim Horton’s, Canada Dry, and Molson’s.

The NBA’s nearly year-long investigation “found a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers organization.” Those violations included:

● Affirmatively initiating off-court income opportunities between Mr. Leonard and four companies doing business with the team: Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics, and Lockton Insurance;

● Facilitating endorsement agreements between these companies and Mr. Leonard;

● Inducing the companies to enter into these agreements by offering them business from the team;

● Paying personal expenses on behalf of Mr. Leonard and his representatives; and

● Failing to report improper solicitations for off-court income opportunities made on Mr. Leonard’s behalf through his then-business manager, Dennis Robertson.

Ballmer and the Clippers had loudly proclaimed their innocence as to any wrongdoing in Leonard’s $28M endorsement deal with Aspiration, the now-defunct tree-planting/climate credits company that was a big Clippers sponsor. That deal apparently didn’t require Leonard to do anything to reap tens of millions, whether it was to post about the company or plant one single tree, and it was never announced publicly, which seems contrary to the idea of celebrity endorsements.

Journalist Pablo Torre has been all over the story since it began, also pointing out the questionable endorsement deal Leonard had with Daktronics, a scoreboard manufacturer that didn’t have any other celebrity endorsements — since they make gigantic scoreboard displays. The NBA’s investigation, conducted by the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, also found previously unreported illegal deals with Boingo Wireless and Lockton Insurance worth $18M in total.

Yes, Kawhi wasn’t doing ads for them either, and none of them was reported publicly. The three companies became paid consultants for the Clippers at the same time as they reached endorsement deals with Leonard, with two of them receiving immediate payments of $10M in “consulting fees.” Why they needed consultation with Boingo Wireless remains unexplained.

Not only did the Clippers have to forfeit five first-round picks, the same punishment given to the Minnesota Timberwolves a quarter century ago for making an illegal secret deal with Joe Smith, Ballmer and the Clippers head of business operations, Gillian Zucker, are suspended for a year. President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank was suspended for six months. Zucker and Frank’s suspensions are unpaid, but Ballmer will surely be able to find them some endorsement opportunities to make up for the lost income.

Now the Clippers are rebuilding around an uninspiring young core of Darius Garland, Brandon Ingram, and No. 5 pick Keaton Wagler, but precious little else. It’s an open question whether head coach Ty Lue will want to hang around, though he’s reportedly signed for three more seasons. The Clippers will also have to motivate themselves without the NBA’s most enthusiastic and sweatiest owner sitting courtside, relying instead on THE WALL, a Clipper-fans-only section behind one basket that honestly might have trouble filling its seats.

Who are the big winners? Adam Silver, who stood up to the richest owner in the league and came down with an old-school punishment worthy of David Stern, if not Kennesaw Mountain Landis himself. There’s Pablo Torre, who led the way on the story and was vindicated tremendously by the league’s ruling. There’s the Raptors, who get Leonard without his contract being encumbered. And there’s Leonard himself, who seems to have escaped cheaply by only drawing a $700K fine for taking what may have been tens of millionsof dollars.

Who are the losers? Steve Ballmer is the biggest one. We’d say the Clippers, but this is just one in a series of embarrassments that have defined the franchise since it moved out of Buffalo. Clippers fans don’t expect good things.

Mark Cuban, one of the most vocal Ballmer defenders, has to be considered a loser, as do Ramona Shelburne, Don Van Natta, and Baxter Holmes of ESPN, who confidently reported that the NBA had nothing on the Clippers just two weeks ago. Shelburne also hosted a softball interview with Ballmer a year ago on ESPN that was embarrassing at the time and even more so in hindsight.

Steve Ballmer:

"Pablo's podcast I don't know anything about the court documents on this. I haven't seen them and I don't know. The speculation is what it is. They conned me. I made an investment in these guys" https://t.co/5HqOZF5z9Apic.twitter.com/iqI1kYMZHL

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) September 5, 2025

The investigators called Ballmer’s statements during that interview that the Clippers “weren’t involved” in Leonard’s Aspiration deal “inaccurate (at best) with respect to Mr. Ballmer and clearly false with respect to Ms. Zucker.”

To his credit, Cuban took the L Wednesday.

Congrats Pablo. https://t.co/fOUfnbIlVw

— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) September 2, 2026

Who did not take the L? The Clippers, who continue to deny any wrongdoing and threaten to sic their lawyers on the NBA.

Statement from the Clippers: We vehemently reject the NBA's findings, which are the result of a heavily biased investigation seeking to justify a predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence. What the league told us privately differs from what it announced today… https://t.co/HDgzD45qC3

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 2, 2026

Do we know why the NBA is biased against the Clippers? We’re sure the Clippers will explain, just like they’ll provide a reasonable explanation for team sponsors secretly giving millions of dollars to the superstar to do nothing as they’re also receiving massive consulting fees from the team.

The evidence is more damning than anyone realized, and the punishment is worse than anyone expected. Maybe not all billionaires believe that they can do whatever they want, but the billionaire who owns the Clippers clearly did. For the Warriors, their richest division rival has been seriously weakened.

Ultimately, Adam Silver was Steph Curry in this investigation, and Steve Ballmer was Chris Paul.

This crossover from Steph Curry on Chris Paul was cold 🥶 pic.twitter.com/mYzrHpXrBR

— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) March 20, 2020

The LA Clippers have been fined $30m (£22.2m) by the NBA for violating salary rules in order to funnel millions of dollars to star player Kawhi Leonard.

The fine - the largest in the league's history - comes after the NBA report said Leonard pressured the Clippers into "obtaining off-court income opportunities [and] successfully obtaining those opportunities".

The investigation was opened in September 2025 when podcast journalist Pablo Torre reported that a $28m (£20.8m) endorsement contract between Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC could have broken league rules.

The Clippers will also have to forfeit five first-round draft picks between 2029 and 2033, while owner Steve Ballmer has been suspended from all league and team activities for 12 months for his role in matters involving Leonard's sponsorship contracts.

Two-time NBA champion Leonard has been fined $700,000 (£520,000) by the league.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he was "deeply disappointed" by the Clippers' "flagrant violations" of the rules and said the "severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations".

Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker has been suspended for one year without pay for providing "misleading statements to investigators".

The NBA said its month-long investigation "found a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers organisation, a prior offender of the salary-cap circumvention rules".

Following the ruling, Leonard, 35, said he "accepts full responsibility" for his actions and "regrets the distraction this situation has caused the fans and my family".

"I entered into my contract with the Clippers as well as the agreements in question in good faith, fully committed to fulfilling my obligations and with no knowledge of any intent on anyone's part to circumvent the salary cap," he wrote on Instagram.

The two-time NBA Finals MVP joined the Clippers in 2019 and spent seven years with the franchise before leaving this year.

The NBA said the "organisation and personnel" of the Clippers will be subject to a compliance and monitoring programme overseen by the league for five years.

Clippers to appeal against 'witch hunt' fine

The Clippers said they would appeal against the decision "through every avenue available".

"We vehemently reject the NBA's findings, which are the result of a heavily biased investigation seeking to justify a predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence," read a Clippers statement.

"What the league told us privately differs from what it announced today publicly, and they have not held themselves close to the standard commissioner Silver set at the start of this investigation to ensure [its] fairness and accuracy."

Leonard is now expected to complete his move to Toronto Raptors, which was on hold until the investigation was completed.

Ballmer's attorney David Kelley said in a statement - released by the Clippers, according to ESPN - that suggested the team and his client has been subject of a "witch hunt" and the punishments were a "gross injustice".

"Mr Ballmer's reputation has been irreparably damaged as he now finds himself embroiled not only in this heavily biased investigation, but in civil litigation, the Aspiration bankruptcy proceeding, and more," Kelley said.

• The Briton who remains in demand in NBA at 74

The NBA came down hard on the Los Angeles Clippers for violating salary cap circumvention rules.

The league announced significant penalties and fines for the Clippers organization, owner Steve Ballmer, former star Kawhi Leonard and other team executives in relation to their role in the scandal after releasing the findings of an 11-month independent investigation.

A law firm commissioned by the NBA determined the Clippers facilitated alleged "no-show" endorsement deals for Leonard with at least four different companies following an initial "Pablo Torre Reports" investigation into Leonard's dealings with the Clippers and team sponsor, Aspiration Partners. The investigation also revealed the Clippers, who are considered a repeat offender by the NBA, broke rules by paying for personal expenses on behalf of Leonard and his representatives in a manner not allowed under NBA rules.

Commissioner Adam Silver is not taking the matter lightly, saying in a statement, "the severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations." The Clippers have vehemently denied the allegations and responded Wednesday that they will continue to challenge the findings from the league's investigation.

Here's a breakdown of the punishment handed out by the NBA to the Los Angeles Clippers, Kawhi Leonard, owner Steve Ballmer and more after an investigation into the team's violations of the league's salary-cap circumvention rules:

RELATED: Kawhi Leonard investigation draws SEC interest in Daktronics

Clippers punishment from NBA investigation

• The Clippers forfeited five first-round draft picks, one in each of the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033 NBA Drafts.
• The Clippers were fined $30 million.
• The Clippers organization and personnel are subject to a compliance and monitoring program overseen by the NBA league office for five years.
• Clippers President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank is suspended without pay for six months for his involvement with arranging the impermissible endorsement deals and approving impermissible expenses incurred by Leonard and his family.
• Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker is suspended without pay for one year for being "primarily and directly culpable for the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for providing false and misleading statements to investigators."

What penalties did Steve Balmer receive?

• Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is suspended from all league and team activities for one year for knowingly seeking to help Leonard obtain off-court income opportunities, for approving a business deal that he knew was a precondition for Aspiration to enter into an endorsement agreement with Mr. Leonard, and for his failure to create conditions under which his organization abided by the NBA’s circumvention rules.

What penalties did Kawhi Leonard receive?

• Leonard received a $700,000 fine.
• Leonard's former associate, Dennis Robertson, is banned for five years "from conducting business or otherwise engaging with NBA teams and their affiliates on behalf of or with respect to any player, employee, or other league or team personnel."

READ: Kawhi Leonard statement on NBA's significant punishments, fines

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What punishment did the Clippers get? NBA releases full list of penalties

Here is the NBA’s investigation into allegations the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The NBA handed down sweeping penalties to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, team executives, the team and Kawhi Leonard following an
investigation. The Clippers said in a statement that they “vehemently reject the NBA’s findings” and vowed to challenge them.

Read the full report here:

Read more:NBA's investigation of Clippers, Steve Ballmer, Kawhi Leonard

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles Clippers "vehemently reject" the NBA's findings that they circumvented the salary cap with their alleged facilitation of "no-show" endorsement deals for their former star forward Kawhi Leonard, the team said in a statement on Wednesday, Sept. 2.

The Clippers' statement came soon after the NBA announced significant punishments for the team, owner Steve Ballmer and Leonard following an 11-month investigation. Here's how the Clippers responded to being fined $30 million and forced to forfeit five first-round draft picks.

What Clippers said about punishment from NBA

"We vehemently reject the NBA's findings, which are the result of a heavily biased investigation seeking to justify a predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence," the statement read. "What the league told us privately differs from what it announced today publicly, and they have not held themselves close to the standard Commissioner Silver set at the start of this investigation to ensure it's fairness and accuracy.

"For the past year, we cooperated fully and in good faith and we will now fight just as hard to demonstrate our innocence. We intend to vigorously challenge these findings and penalties through every avenue available to us and look forward to an ethical and impartial arbitration process."

What are Clippers fines, punishments?

The Clippers are being fined a staggering $30 million, and the team will forfeit five first-round picks in the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033 NBA drafts. Leonard has been fined $700,000, payable to the NBA, and the league is also suspending Ballmer from all league activities for one year.

According to the release, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association, "have entered into an agreement confirming these penalties are final and binding on all parties."

This comes after a recent ESPN report indicated that the league's investigation had found no evidence linking Ballmer to the alleged scheme. The NBA pushed back against that report, citing "significant inaccuracies."

Kawhi Leonard statement on Clippers punishments

“Integrity and respect for this game are fundamental to who I am. I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle and regret the distraction this situation has caused the fans and my family," the statement read via ESPN's Shams Charania.

"I entered into my contract with the Clippers as well as the agreements in question in good faith, fully committed to fulfilling my obligations and with no knowledge of any intent on anyone's part to circumvent the salary cap. For 15 years, my priority has been giving everything to my family, the game, and those I share the court with. As I return to Toronto, I am focused on what I can control, closing this chapter, and moving forward with a clean slate."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Clippers 'vehemently reject' NBA's findings, will 'vigorously challenge' penalties

The Los Angeles Clippers are not going down easy after the NBA dropped the hammer on them Wednesday.

The Clippers’ organization was stripped of five first-round NBA draft picks and was fined $30 million as a result of the NBA’s verdict that they violated the league’s salary cap circumvention rules by “initiating off-court income opportunities” for superstar forward Kawhi Leonard.

Los Angeles released a very strong statement on these findings soon after they went public.

“We vehemently reject the NBA’s findings, which are the result of a heavily biased investigation seeking to justify a predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence. What the league told us privately differs from what it announced today publicly, and they have not held themselves close to the standard Commissioner [Adam] Silver set at the start of this investigation to ensure it’s fairness and accuracy,” the statement read.

The Clippers release a statement saying they “vehemently reject the NBA’s findings” and will continue fighting to demonstrate their innocence. pic.twitter.com/s1jX67rpI0

— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) September 2, 2026

“For the past year, we cooperated fully and in good faith and we will now fight just as hard to demonstrate our innocence. / We intend to vigorously challenge these findings and penalties through every avenue available to us and look forward to an ethical and impartial arbitration process.”

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker and President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank are getting suspended for various periods because of the investigation.

Meanwhile, Leonard was fined $700,000 and wasn’t suspended, which means he’ll be allowed to join the Raptors.

It seems that the Clippers are keen to fight this verdict.

Editor's note: Follow along for live updates on the NBA punishments handed out to Kawhi Leonard and the L.A. Clippers.

The long NBA investigation into Kawhi Leonard the Los Angeles Clippers came to a conclusion Wednesday when the league issued punishments to the team, several of its executives and the star who was since traded to the Toronto Raptors.

Among the long list of punishments, the Clippers will be fined $30 million. They will also lose a substantial access to future talent, giving up five first-round picks in the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033 NBA drafts.

For Leonard, the NBA states that the star player has been fined $700,000. No mention of suspension was included in the press release.

The world reacted accordingly as to what it means for the Clippers, Leonard and the future of the organization.

Reactions to NBA fines, Kawhi Leonard and LA Clippers

The NBA dropped the hammer on the Los Angeles Clippers for violating the league’s salary cap circumvention rules by “initiating off-court income opportunities” for star forward Kawhi Leonard.

The Clippers are forced to forfeit five first-round NBA Draft picks, are fined $30 million to owner Steve Ballmer, and both Ballmer, Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker, and President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank are all getting suspended for various periods of time.

Kawhi Leonard is being fined $700,000 but is not getting suspended. Therefore, this opens the door for him to reunite with the Toronto Raptors, a trade which has been in place for several months.

Many feel like Leonard is getting off easy, given that this investigation was centered around him and his contract. And several hilarious social media posts are conveying this.

X user @KingJosiah54 posted a video of a kid on the swings with a fire in the background with the caption, “Raptors waiting for Kawhi outside the Clippers facility”.

Raptors waiting for Kawhi outside the Clippers facility pic.twitter.com/2aiWBGF2Kp

— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) September 2, 2026

“Kawhi came out like gangbusters man lmao no suspension, no contract void, a relatively small fine, and gets to go play for a different team while his old organization is turbo f**** LMAOOOOOO,” wrote @SnackPr0tein in another X post.

X user @OnyxOdds posted a video of Heath Ledger’s Joker character walking away from a hospital in The Dark Knight (2008) with the caption, “Kawhi leaving the Clippers after destroying the future of their franchise”.

Kawhi leaving the Clippers after destroying the future of their franchise pic.twitter.com/JGqREtB4zl

— Onyx Odds (@OnyxOdds) September 2, 2026

Clippers fan account @RaptorsLead posted the iconic LeBron James “Smiling through it all! Can’t believe this my life” meme with the caption, “CLIPPERS LOSE 5 FIRSTS / STEVE BALLMER GETS A $30M FINE / KAWHI ISN’T SUSPENDED!!!!!”

CLIPPERS LOSE 5 FIRSTS

STEVE BALLMER GETS A $30M FINE

KAWHI ISN'T SUSPENDED!!!!! https://t.co/BcfYHUWIJapic.twitter.com/kNAmQVsmvd

— Raptors Lead (@RaptorsLead) September 2, 2026

It definitely seems like Leonard got a much longer stick than the Clippers. But Raptors fans clearly aren’t complaining.

NBA star Kawhi Leonard issued a statement on Wednesday, Sept. 2, after the league announced significant punishments for the Los Angeles Clippers and team owner Steve Ballmer.

The NBA announced the Clippers circumvented the salary cap with its alleged facilitation of "no-show" endorsement deals for Leonard, their former star forward, the league announced after an 11-month investigation concluded. Here's how the star forward responded.

Kawhi Leonard statement on Clippers punishments

“Integrity and respect for this game are fundamental to who I am. I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle and regret the distraction this situation has caused the fans and my family," the statement read via ESPN's Shams Charania.

"I entered into my contract with the Clippers as well as the agreements in question in good faith, fully committed to fulfilling my obligations and with no knowledge of any intent on anyone's part to circumvent the salary cap. For 15 years, my priority has been giving everything to my family, the game, and those I share the court with. As I return to Toronto, I am focused on what I can control, closing this chapter, and moving forward with a clean slate."

What are Clippers fines, punishments?

The Clippers are being fined a staggering $30 million, and the team will forfeit five first-round picks in the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033 NBA drafts. Leonard has been fined $700,000, payable to the NBA, and the league is also suspending Ballmer, the team's owner, from all league activities for one year.

According to the release, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association "have entered into an agreement confirming these penalties are final and binding on all parties."

This comes after a recent ESPN report indicated that the league's investigation had found no evidence linking Ballmer to the alleged scheme. The NBA pushed back against that report, citing "significant inaccuracies."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Read Kawhi Leonard statement on NBA's significant punishments, fines

The NBA has dropped the hammer on the Los Angeles Clippers.

After a yearlong investigation into salary-cap circumvention involving Kawhi Leonard, the league is stripping the Clippers of five first-round picks and fining owner Steve Ballmer $30 million, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Ballmer, general managers Lawrence Frank and president of business operations Gillian Zucker also received suspensions. Leonard will pay $700,000 in restitution for improper benefits involving his uncle and former business representative Dennis Robertson, but he will not be suspended and his contract will remain intact.

The NBA superstar reacted with a bit of defiance as the news circulated.

Meanwhile, Robertson has been banned from NBA business dealings.

It is a staggering package of penalties — and one that immediately belongs in the conversation with the harshest front-office punishments in league history.

Here are the the most severe penalties the NBA has ever handed down until now.

Malice at the Palace – 2004

The NBA’s response to the 2004 “Malice at the Palace” remains one of the broadest disciplinary actions in league history.

Nine players were suspended for a combined 146 games, including Ron Artest for the remainder of the season and playoffs. Artest and teammate Stephen Jackson went into the stands and inexplicably fought fans.

The fallout also reshaped league policy. The NBA tightened arena security, created larger buffers between players and fans, imposed stricter limits on alcohol sales and formalized a fan code of conduct.

The incident also helped usher in broader efforts to regulate player conduct and presentation, including the league’s dress code the following season.

Timberwolves — Joe Smith scandal, 2000

Minnesota secretly arranged future contracts with Smith in an attempt to circumvent the salary cap and preserve his Bird rights.

The NBA responded by initially stripping the Timberwolves of five first-round picks, fining the organization $3.5 million and voiding Smith’s contract. Owner Glen Taylor was suspended and Kevin McHale temporarily stepped away from basketball operations.

Two picks were eventually restored, but the original five-pick penalty became the gold standard for how seriously the league viewed cap circumvention.

The Clippers now match that initial draft punishment — while absorbing a far larger financial hit.

Suns — Robert Sarver, 2022

Sarver was suspended for one year and fined $10 million following an investigation into workplace misconduct.

At the time, that fine was massive. Ballmer’s reported $30 million penalty is three times larger.

Clippers — Donald Sterling, 2014

Sterling still owns the most extreme individual punishment.

After racist comments became public, commissioner Adam Silver banned him from the NBA for life, fined him $2.5 million and set in motion the process that eventually led to the sale of the Clippers.

Mavericks — workplace scandal, 2018

An independent investigation into the Mavericks uncovered widespread workplace misconduct and serious failures in the organization’s handling of complaints.

Owner Mark Cuban agreed to contribute $10 million to organizations supporting women’s leadership and combating domestic violence, while Dallas implemented sweeping workplace reforms.

The Joe Smith case remains the clearest historical precedent, but the Clippers’ punishment is broader in some ways: five first-rounders, a record-sized financial hit and multiple executive suspensions.

That puts this ruling in exceedingly rare company.