Category: Sports News

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”.

“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”.

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!!!!!”

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."

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.

The NBA handed down sweeping penalties to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, team executives, the team and Kawhi Leonard following an investigation into allegations the group circumvented the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The Clippers said in a statement that they “vehemently reject the NBA’s findings” and vowed to challenge them.

The NBA issued the following sanctions after a third-party probe determined Ballmer invested $60 million in a now-defunct company that in turn agreed to pay Leonard $28 million for endorsements he never fulfilled:

• The Clippers are forfeiting first-round draft picks, one apiece in the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033 NBA drafts.
  
• The Clippers are fined $30 million.
  
• 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.”
  
• 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.”
  
• Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank is suspended without pay for six months for “his involvement with the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for approving impermissible expenses incurred by Mr. Leonard and his family.”
  
• The Clippers organization and personnel are subject to a compliance and monitoring program overseen by the league office for a period of five years.
  
• Leonard is required to pay the league $700,000.
  
• Dennis Robertson, Leonard’s uncle and previous business manager, is banned 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 for a period of five years.

Read more:NBA commissioner Adam Silver says Clippers probe should wrap up before the regular season begins

The Clippers said in a statement they cooperated fully with the investigation and will fight “to demonstrate our innocence.”

“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 team 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 [Adam] Silver set at the start of this investigation to ensure it’s fairness and accuracy.”

”... 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.”

Leonard issued a statement denying knowledge of the salary cap violations.

“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,” Leonard’s statement read. “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.”

The findings announced Wednesday were the result of a nearly yearlong investigation conducted by Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, a high-powered New York law firm the NBA frequently uses when attempting to determine off-the-court wrongdoing by team owners, players or referees.

The probe was triggered when the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast aired an episode Sept. 3, 2025, detailing the contract Leonard received from Aspiration, a self-described “socially-conscious and sustainable banking services and investment products” firm.

The deal with Leonard came to light in Aspiration’s bankruptcy documents. Joseph Sanberg, co-founder of the company, pleaded guilty in October to federal charges of conspiring to bilk investors out of $248 million and on June 1 was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison.

One of the primary investors in Aspiration was Ballmer, the former longtime CEO of Microsoft whose estimated net worth is $139 billion. He has owned the Clippers since 2014.

Read more:NBA probe of Steve Ballmer, Kawhi Leonard and Clippers at forefront after Aspiration fraud sentencing

Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration in September 2021. A month later, the Clippers announced a $300-million sponsorship deal with the company. Ballmer nearly granted Aspiration naming rights to the team’s new $2-billion arena, but instead chose financial services firm Intuit.

Two years later when Aspiration was experiencing severe financial difficulties, Ballmer invested an additional $10 million and Clippers co-owner Dennis Wong — Ballmer’s former college roommate — invested $1.99 million in Aspiration nine days before Leonard received a $1.75 million payment from the company. Leonard was paid $21 million of the $28 million agreed upon in his contract with Aspiration.

Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptors on June 30 for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and a slew of draft picks, but the deal was put on hold pending the outcome of the investigation. Leonard led the Raptors to the NBA championship in 2019.

Leonard would not talk about the allegations during the 2025-26 NBA season because the investigation was ongoing and brushed it off during media day in September.

“None of us did ... wrongdoing and, yeah, that’s it,” he said. “We invite the investigation.”

Asked if he performed any endorsement work for Aspiration, Leonard said, “I understand the full contract and services that I had to do. Like I said, I don’t deal with conspiracies or the click-bait analysts or journalism that’s going on.”

Players are allowed to have endorsement and business deals, but at issue was whether the Clippers participated in arranging the side deal beyond simply introducing Aspiration executives to Leonard. Doing so would be a violation of Article 13 of the NBA collective bargaining agreement.

Read more:Kawhi Leonard trade to Toronto put on hold until the NBA probe into the Clippers concludes

Torre reported in July that the investigation grew in scope to examine whether Leonard had a previously unreported endorsement deal with Daktronics — the scoreboard manufacturer for the Intuit Dome — with sources alleging it was used to funnel money. Questions also arose about whether the Clippers were properly reimbursed for Leonard’s expenses.

ESPN reported Aug. 17 that NBA investigators had met with Ballmer and other Clippers officials in an attempt to agree to findings before the case went to arbitration. Although ESPN wrote that three sources told reporters the NBA found no evidence showing Ballmer funneled money through team sponsors to pay Leonard to circumvent the salary cap, the NBA immediately pushed back, releasing a statement that read “ESPN’s article regarding the LA Clippers investigation — for which the NBA declined to cooperate — contains numerous and significant inaccuracies. The results in this matter will be made clear once the investigation is concluded.”

In his only public comments since the accusation, Ballmer told ESPN in September that he was “conned” by Sanberg and Aspiration. He also said he knew nothing of the endorsement deal between the company and Leonard.

“We were done with Kawhi, we were done with Aspiration,” Ballmer said. “The deals were all locked and loaded. Then, they did request to be introduced to Kawhi, and under the rules, we can introduce our sponsors to our athletes. We just can’t be involved.”

Silver had to follow guidelines spelled out in the NBA collective bargaining agreement and could not unilaterally decide whether the Clippers would be punished and how severely.

Read more:Clippers considered naming dome after bankrupt firm at center of Kawhi Leonard allegations

Leading the investigation was Wachtell Lipton partner David B. Andersk, a renowned lawyer first retained by the NBA in 2007 when the FBI investigated referee Tim Donaghy for allegedly betting on games he officiated.

Anders also headed Wachtell investigations in 2014 into the alleged use of racially charged language by former Clippers owner Donald Sterling and then-Atlanta Hawks owner Bruce Levenson. Seven years later, he investigated alleged racist and misogynistic behavior by then-Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver.

More recently, Wachtell investigated allegations that veteran point guard Terry Rozier took himself out of a game so gamblers could win bets on his performance. Federal prosecutors later charged Rozier. It was also Anders and Wachtell who determined that former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter placed illegal bets.

Proven incidents of teams circumventing the salary cap are few, with a violation by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2000 the most egregious.

The Timberwolves made a secret agreement with free agent and former No. 1 overall draft pick Joe Smith, signing him to below-market one-year deals to enable the team to not go over the cap with a huge contract ahead of the 2001-02 season.

The NBA voided his contract, fined the Timberwolves $3.5 million, and stripped them of five first-round draft picks — two of which were later returned. Also, owner Glen Taylor and general manager Kevin McHale were suspended.

Ballmer cannot wipe his hands clean of Aspiration quite yet. He was added as a defendant in a civil lawsuit against Sanberg and others associated with Aspiration — renamed Catona Climate in 2025 just before the bankruptcy filing — brought by 11 investors in the company. Ballmer and other defendants are accused of fraud and aiding and abetting fraud, with the plaintiffs seeking at least $50 million in damages.

“Ballmer was the perfect deep-pocket partner to fund Catona’s flagging operations and lend legitimacy to Catona’s carbon credit business,” says the amended complaint viewed by The Times. “Since Ballmer had publicly promoted himself as an advocate for sustainability, Catona was an ideal vehicle for Ballmer to secretly circumvent the NBA salary cap while purporting to support the company as a legitimate environmentalist investor.”

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 NBA has handed down one of the biggest punishments in the history of the league to the Los Angeles Clippers after finding that the franchise circumvented salary cap rules when it courted Kawhi Leonard as a free agent.

The league has stripped the team of five first-round draft picks, giving the team no natural pick in the draft from 2029 through 2033.

The NBA also fined the Clippers $30m, and suspended owner Steve Ballmer from all league and team activities for a year. In addition, it issued suspensions without pay to president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank (six months) and president of business operations Gillian Zucker (one year) for their involvement in the scheme.

Related: Luka Dončić looks like a superstar adrift at the Lakers

Leonard was also fined $700,000. The Clippers agreed to trade the seven-time All-Star to the Toronto Raptors earlier this summer, but the deal had been put on hold pending the completion of the NBA’s investigation. Leonard is due to make $50m in salary this season, while Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, has an estimated wealth of $152.7bn, according to Forbes.

“The NBA’s collectively bargained system for determining player compensation is a fundamental component of the basketball competition that the league oversees for the benefit of the teams and players and ultimately the fans,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “I am deeply disappointed by the flagrant violations of our rules and by the Clippers’ institutional and leadership failures that led to this misconduct. The severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations.”

In a statement through his agent, Leonard said he took “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. 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.”

The Clippers said they would challenge the investigation’s findings “through every avenue available to us” and looked “forward to an ethical and impartial arbitration process”.

“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 team said in a 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 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.”

New York law firm Wachtell Lipton conducted the NBA’s investigation into the matter after reporting by journalist Pablo Torre last year.

Torre, citing legal documents, claimed Ballmer employed Leonard for a nonexistent role in a company Ballmer had invested in to circumvent the NBA salary cap, which punishes teams for spending too much on player salaries.

Torre claims that Ballmer partly funded a now defunct tree-planting company called Aspiration. That company then allegedly entered into a $28m agreement with KL2 Aspire, LLC, a company owned by Leonard.

Torre says he could find no evidence that Leonard ever performed any work for Aspiration, and there was a clause in the contract between KL2 Aspire and Aspiration effectively allowed Leonard to be paid even if he did no work. Another clause said the deal would be voided if Leonard left the Clippers. One former employee of Aspiration told Torre he had heard the deal with Leonard had been set up to “circumvent the salary cap.”

Wachtell Lipton’s report concluded that the Clippers broke NBA rules after “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.”

Leonard is one of the best players of his generation. The 35-year-old is a two-time NBA champion and was twice the league’s defensive player of the year. He started his career with the San Antonio Spurs before spells with the Raptors and Clippers.

Leonard led the Clippers to the Western Conference finals in the 2020-21 season but they have failed to get beyond the first round of the playoffs since and missed the postseason entirely in 2025-26.

The NBA just brought the hammer down on the Los Angeles Clippers as part of the Aspiration Scandal, while Kawhi Leonard will walk away with a hefty fine, but no permanent suspension.

In an earthshattering press release, the National Basketball Association has announced that punishment will indeed be meted out for salary cap circumvention, with the figure at the centre of it all, Kawhi Leonard, landing a $700,000 fine to the league, but otherwise, receiving no serious penalty — yet. Kawhi’s manager, the notorious “Uncle” Dennis Robertson, has received a 5 year ban from involvement in the NBA.

Kawhi himself posted on Instagram, saying that he “accept[s] full responsibility for lapses in judgement made by people within [his] inner circle,” and said that he had “no knowledge” of salary cap circumvention. “As I return to Toronto,” Leonard continued, “I am focused on what I can control, closing this chapter, and moving forward with a clean slate.”

It seems that from an official perspective, Leonard himself has been able to avoid serious punishment for himself due to this connection, specifically to his manager, Robertson, who in the official NBA release, is described as acting “on Mr. Leonard’s behalf.”

Charania, in his own tweet, notes that Leonard is now being represented by Harrison Gaines, former college basketball player.

Steve Balmer, owner of the Clippers, has been suspended for a year, specifically for his dealings with Aspiration. A number of other Clippers executives were also suspended, namely Gillian Zucker, President of Basketball Operations and Lawrence Frank, who bears the same title. The most serious penalty comes to the Clippers organization, who will be forced to forfeit five first-round picks, from 2029-2044, meaning that they will not control their own picks for the next eight years. “I am deeply disappointed by the flagrant violations of our rules,” said Adam Silver, “and by the Clippers’ institutional and leadership failures that led to this misconduct.”

While this is the most concrete thing to come out of the NBA’s investigation, it seems that this controversy is far from over.

Pablo Torre, the journalist who initially broke news on the scandal, has announced today that the American Securities and Exchange Commission will be investigating another company implicated in impropriety involving Kawhi Leonard, Daktronics, who make the scoreboards for the Clippers.

What does this mean for the Raptors?

With seemingly no suspension incoming for Leonard, it can be expected that the Raptors are much more likely to finalize the trade for the Klaw, officially parting ways with Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick. Additional punishment is certainly possible, with today’s ruling from the NBA potentially an attempt to clear the air ahead of the preseason and training camp, rather than the organization officially bringing to an attend all investigations. Potential challenges from the Player’s Association were anticipated, but the NBA has noted that the two groups are in agreement regarding the decision.

It didn’t take Kawhi Leonard long to respond to the NBA’s ruling that Los Angeles Clippers violated the league’s salary cap circumvention rules by initiating off-court sponsorship deals for him. 

“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,” Leonard’s Instagram story post wrote minutes after news of the NBA’s investigation was made public.

Leonard will have to pay $700,000 in restitution for improper benefits by the Clippers, but won’t have his contract voided or suspended.

“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,” Leonard’s post added.

“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,” it continued.

There’s a strong case to be made that Leonard was let off relatively easy. And as he alluded to, this investigation concluding means that he’s free to join the Toronto Raptors, which has been the worst-kept secret in the league.

It will be interesting to see what the reaction to Leonard’s punishment is.

The NBA’s long investigation into Kawhi Leonard’s cap circumvention scandal is finally over, and the league has decided to hammer the Los Angeles Clippers. ESPN insider Shams Charania first reported the punishment, and it threatens to set back the Clippers for the next decade.

The NBA is stripping the Clippers of five future first-round picks for Leonard’s no-show endorsement deal with Aspiration, a carbon emissions offset company. Owner Steve Ballmer, general manager Lawrence Frank, and president of business operations Gillian Zucker will all be suspended, and Ballmer will be fined $30 million.

The Clippers are losing a first-round pick in 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033, according to Charania. Ballmer is being suspended for one year, Zucker is being suspended without pay for a year, and Frank will be suspended for six months without pay. Here’s how Charania framed the suspensions in his Twitter post:

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is suspended from all league and team activities for one year for knowingly seeking to help Mr. 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. 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. Clippers President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank is suspended without pay for six months for his involvement with the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for approving impermissible expenses incurred by Mr. Leonard and his family.

I wrote a year ago that the NBA couldn’t go soft on the Clippers if it wanted to deter future teams from trying to circumvent the salary cap in the second apron era. A few weeks ago, ESPN reported that the Clippers would evade a harsh punishment, which the league quickly refuted. Clearly, the NBA did not go soft on the Clippers. This is about as close to a “death penalty” as the league could issue. The next decade of Clippers basketball is going to be in a dark place without all those draft picks to trade or use themselves.

The Clippers announced they will challenge the NBA’s ruling:

Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptors over the offseason. Assuming that deal now officially goes through, the Clippers will be able to retain the future draft picks they received from the Raptors in the deal, because they don’t technically own them at the time of the punishment. The Clippers scored Toronto’s 2031 and 2033 unprotected first-round draft picks in the deal. Los Angeles is being stripped of the Indiana Pacers’ 2029 unprotected first-round pick it received in Feb. for Ivica Zubac, according to Zach Lowe, but the pick won’t be returned to the Pacers.

The investigation into Leonard was started by journalist Pablo Torre. This ruling is a massive victory for Torre’s journalism. He continued to report on the story over the last year, and kept finding loose threads that ultimately led to this punishment. The investigation was done by law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

Here’s the full list of Collective Bargaining Agreement rules the Clippers broke in dealing with Leonard.

Ballmer initially invested $50 million in Aspiration to help offset carbon emissions from the building of the team’s new arena, the Intuit Dome. Aspiration agreed to a $300 million sponsorship deal with the Clippers, and then Leonard agree to an endorsement contract with Aspiration that paid him $28 million over four years. Torre reported that Leonard’s marketing deal was never announced, and he that he did zero work for his money. Leonard’s $7 annual million deal dwarfed similar deals Aspiration made with celebrities like Robert Downey Jr. and Drake, who actually activated the partnership.

Aspiration was supposed to plant trees to offset carbon emissions, and Leonard was their highly-paid pitchman. Where were the trees that Leonard was supposed to help plant? They never existed, and he couldn’t even do as much as like a social media post for his troubles in earning $28 million. Leonard’s camp was reportedly asking other suitors for similar no-show endorsement deals during his 2019 free agency, and they finally got caught. The Clippers’ failure to monitor the situation is why they received such a severe punishment while Leonard himself came out mostly unscathed.

Leonard must pay back $700K in restitution for improper benefits. The slight punishment for Leonard was likely done to avoid an appeal from the NBA Player’s Association.

This ruling is pretty embarrassing for ESPN. ESPN did a soft-ball interview with Ballmer shortly after the scandal broke, then missed the mark by saying the Clippers would avoid major punishment. Torre showed ESPN what real journalism looks like even with a fraction of the resources.

Leonard has put out the following statement on social media:

The league has precedent for this penalty after stripping the Minnesota Timberwolves of five first-round picks for Joe Smith’s cap circumvention scandal in 2000. In that case, Smith’s current contract was void, while Leonard will enter the final year of his own deal before likely signing a lucrative extension with the Raptors.

The Clippers went all out to sign Leonard and Paul George in the summer of 2019, and all they have to show for it is one trip to the conference finals. Pairing Leonard and George has now cost the Clippers Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 10 first-round picks, and two swaps after the punishment.

We’ll update this story as it develops.

The NBA has dropped the hammer on Steve Ballmer, Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers. And now, the Toronto Raptors must assess what they will do next.

A league-backed investigation that spanned 11 months concluded the Clippers circumvented the salary cap with its alleged facilitation of "no-show" endorsement deals for Leonard, their former star forward, the NBA announced Wednesday, Sept. 2 in a news release.

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, though he avoids any suspension. The league, however, is suspending Ballmer, the team's owner, from all league activities for one year.

Additionally, Leonard's uncle, Dennis Robertson, has been banned from conducting business with NBA teams on behalf of any player for five years. Robertson was a key liaison in the endorsement deals between Leonard and the Clippers.

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." Essentially, this signifies that both parties agreed to not appeal the decision.

Leonard denied any knowledge of wrongdoing and said he will accept the penalties.

"Integrity and respect for this game are fundamental to who I am," Leonard said Wednesday in a statement released through his agent. "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. 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."

The Clippers, however, promised to "vigorously challenge" the decision.

"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 Clippers said Wednesday in a 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 the investigation to ensure its fairness and accuracy."

The Clippers also noted their full cooperation and good faith during the investigation in a vow to demonstrate their 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," the team said.

Although initial reporting surrounding the matter focused on Leonard's endorsement deals with a now-defunct green financial services company called Aspiration and, later, Daktronics, the investigation uncovered two additional endorsement deals with Boingo Wireless and Lockton Insurance.

The NBA had contracted the New York-based firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz – which it has used in the past for other investigations – to lead the inquiry. Over the past several weeks, the NBA had been discussing the findings of the investigation with the involved parties.

Additionally, the NBA said Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker has been suspended one year without pay for being the primary contact to arrange the endorsement deals and for "providing false and misleading statements to investigators."

Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank will be suspended six months without pay for his involvement in the matter and for "approving impermissible expenses incurred by Mr. Leonard and his family."

The Clippers will also be subject to a compliance and monitoring program overseen by the NBA league office for five years.

The Clippers and Raptors had agreed June 30 to a deal that would to send Leonard to the Raptors, but both franchises each released statements July 9, indicating that the execution of the trade was being delayed until the investigation had concluded. Both teams also acknowledged that the NBA contacted each party and said the trade "can only be finalized if the Raptors' ownership group assumes the risk of penalties related to Kawhi’s contract that could theoretically result from the ongoing investigation."

After a year-long investigation, the NBA ruled that the Clippers violated the league’s salary cap circumvention rules by “initiating off-court income opportunities” for star forward Kawhi Leonard with four different companies that did business with the team.

And the punishments were harsh.

As a result of the investigation, the Clippers have been stripped of five first-round picks, were issued a $30 million fine and the league suspended owner Steve Ballmer, President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker and President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank for various periods.

Leonard will have to pay the league $700,000 while his uncle and former business representative, Dennis Robertson, is being banned by the NBA from all business dealings for five years.

The independent investigation, which was conducted by the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, found a “pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers organization, a prior offender of the salary cap circumvention rules,” per the league’s statement.

“The NBA’s collectively bargained system for determining player compensation is a fundamental component of the basketball competition that the league oversees for the benefit of the teams and players and ultimately the fans,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “I am deeply disappointed by the flagrant violations of our rules and by the Clippers’ institutional and leadership failures that led to this misconduct. The severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations.”

The five first-round picks the Clippers are losing are for their selections in 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033.

Ballmer has been suspended from all league and team activities for one year for “knowingly seeking to help Mr. Leonard obtain off-court income opportunities”, according to the NBA.

The league added that Ballmer approved a business deal with Aspiration because he knew it was a “precondition for Aspiration to enter into an endorsement agreement with Mr. Leonard.” Ballmer was also punished for his “and for his “failure to create conditions under which his organization abided by the NBA’s circumvention rules.”

Zucker has been 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”, while Frank was suspended without pay for six months for his “involvement with the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for approving impermissible expenses incurred by Mr. Leonard and his family.”

Frank and Zucker received different punishments because Zucker made several statements that were “inconsistent” with other documents and witness statements, while Frank “consistent” during his interviews with investigators, according to summary report by Wachtell Lipton.

Leonard violated the cap circumvention rules, through the conduct of Robertson, by “pressuring the Clippers to assist him in obtaining off-court income opportunities, successfully obtaining those opportunities, and failing to reimburse payments by the Clippers for personal expenses.”

Wachtell Lipton found that the Clippers initiated off-court income opportunities between Leonard and four companies doing business with the team: Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics, and Lockton Insurance.

The law firm added that the Clippers facilitated endorsement agreements between those companies and Leonard.

The NBA’s announcement on Wednesday stated: 

“The investigation found a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers organization, a prior offender of the salary cap circumvention rules. As described in a summary report prepared by Wachtell Lipton…the Clippers broke the rules by:

• 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.”

The announcement continued: 

“Mr. Leonard, through the conduct of Mr. Robertson on his behalf, violated the circumvention rules by pressuring the Clippers to assist him in obtaining off-court income opportunities, successfully obtaining those opportunities, and failing to reimburse payments by the Clippers for personal expenses.

Based on this misconduct, the NBA has imposed the following penalties:

• The Clippers shall forfeit five first-round draft picks, one in each of the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033 NBA Drafts.
• The Clippers are fined $30 million.
• Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is suspended from all league and team activities for one year for knowingly seeking to help Mr. 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.
• 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.
• Clippers President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank is suspended without pay for six months for his involvement with the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for approving impermissible expenses incurred by Mr. Leonard and his family.
• The Clippers organization and personnel are subject to a compliance and monitoring program overseen by the league office for a period of five years.
• In connection with his violations, Mr. Leonard is required to pay the league $700,000.
• Mr. Robertson is banned 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 for a period of five years.”