By Alex Molina / info@eurohoops.net
The NBA has imposed sweeping penalties on the Los Angeles Clippers following a yearlong investigation into alleged salary-cap circumvention involving star forward Kawhi Leonard, according to Shams Charania.
The league has ordered the Clippers to forfeit five first-round draft picks, fined team owner Steve Ballmer $30 million and suspended several senior executives as part of the unprecedented sanctions.
The Clippers will lose their first-round selections in each of the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033 NBA Drafts. The organization will also be placed under a league-supervised compliance and monitoring program for five years.
Ballmer has been suspended from all NBA and team activities for one year. The league determined that he knowingly sought to help Leonard secure off-court income opportunities, approved a business arrangement that was understood to be a condition for Aspiration to enter into an endorsement agreement with Leonard, and failed to ensure that the organization complied with the NBA’s salary-cap circumvention rules.
Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker has also been suspended without pay for one year. According to the league, Zucker was primarily and directly responsible for the impermissible endorsement arrangements and provided investigators with false and misleading statements.
Lawrence Frank, the Clippers’ president of basketball operations, received a six-month suspension without pay for his involvement in the endorsement arrangements and for approving impermissible expenses incurred by Leonard and members of his family.
Leonard himself was not suspended, and his contract with the Clippers will not be voided. However, the NBA ordered him to pay $700,000 in restitution for improper benefits allegedly provided by the Clippers to his uncle and former business representative, Dennis Robertson.
Robertson, who was fired by Leonard in June, has been banned by the NBA from participating in any future business dealings with the league.
The investigation centered on allegations that the Clippers provided improper benefits connected to Leonard and his business interests in an effort to circumvent the NBA’s salary-cap regulations.
In a statement issued through his new agent, Harrison Gaines, Leonard said he accepted responsibility for mistakes made by members of his inner circle but denied having any knowledge of an effort to circumvent the salary cap “Integrity and respect for this game are fundamental to who I am,” Leonard said.
Leonard added that he entered into his contract with the Clippers and the agreements under investigation “in good faith,” saying he was fully committed to fulfilling his obligations and unaware of any intention by others 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,” Leonard said.
As he prepares to return to Toronto, Leonard said his focus is now on moving forward and concentrating on what he can control.
The NBA’s decision represents a major blow to the Clippers, who have invested heavily in building a championship contender around Leonard. The loss of five consecutive first-round picks could significantly affect the franchise’s ability to reshape its roster in the years ahead.
In NBA’s official statement, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said: “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. 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.”
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