(ESPN) New York, USA — The NBA handed down the most severe punishment in league history against the LA Clippers this week, following a nearly year-long investigation into salary cap circumvention involving star forward Kawhi Leonard. The findings, based on a 35-page report from law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, concluded that the Clippers helped arrange endorsement deals worth tens of millions of dollars between Leonard and companies doing business with the team, including a now-bankrupt firm called Aspiration, in exchange for little to no actual work from Leonard.
As a result, the Clippers must forfeit five future first-round draft picks spanning 2029 to 2033, pay a $30 million fine, and undergo five years of league-mandated compliance monitoring. Team owner Steve Ballmer was suspended from all team and league activities for one year, while president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank received a six-month unpaid suspension; Leonard himself was fined $700,000. Ballmer’s legal team has called the investigation “a witch hunt,” though the NBA and players’ union have confirmed the penalties are final and cannot be appealed. The case has now drawn the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice, which has reportedly opened its own inquiry into the Clippers’ dealings, adding a new legal dimension to a scandal that began when a podcast investigation first exposed the arrangement roughly a year ago. Read More
