The NBA levied one of its largest penalties in league history against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, fining the team $30 million, suspending owner Steve Ballmer for one year, and stripping the franchise of five first-round draft picks.
Star player Kawhi Leonard also received a $700,000 fine. The NBA determined the Clippers had circumvented the league's salary cap regulations.
Ballmer's one-year suspension prohibits him from all league and team activities. The NBA found Ballmer "knowingly seeking to help Mr. Leonard obtain off-court income opportunities" and "approving a business deal that he knew was a precondition for Aspiration to enter into an endorsement agreement with Mr. Leonard." The league also cited Ballmer's "failure to create conditions under which his organization abided by the NBA's circumvention rules."
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he was "deeply disappointed by the flagrant violations of our rules and by the Clippers' institutional and leadership failures that led to this misconduct." Silver emphasized that 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."
The Clippers rejected the NBA's findings, characterizing the investigation as "heavily biased" and designed to "justify a predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence." The team said that "what the league told us privately differs from what it announced today publicly" and confirmed their intent to "vigorously challenge these findings and penalties through every avenue available to us" and look forward to "an ethical and impartial arbitration process."
The investigation began last year after the podcast "Pablo Torre Finds Out" reported an undisclosed multi-million dollar endorsement deal between Leonard and former fintech company Aspiration. The NBA enlisted the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen and Katz to conduct an independent investigation. The firm interviewed 60 people a total of 73 times.
According to the investigation, the Clippers violated league rules by initiating off-court income opportunities for Leonard and facilitating endorsement agreements between Leonard and four companies that also conducted business with the Clippers: Aspiration, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics and Lockton Insurance. The league stated the Clippers were "inducing the companies to enter into these agreements by offering them business from the team."
The investigation also revealed the Clippers paid personal expenses for Leonard and his representatives and did not report "improper solicitations for off-court income opportunities" made by Dennis Robertson, Leonard's uncle, on Leonard's behalf.
