By Stefan Acevski / info@eurohoops.net
On Wednesday, the NBA decided to heavily penalize the Los Angeles Clippers following a yearlong investigation into alleged salary-cap circumvention involving star forward Kawhi Leonard.
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.
Shortly thereafter, a strong response followed from the Clippers, who issued a statemen
“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 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.”
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