NBA Hits L.A. Clippers Hard In Kawhi Leonard Probe, Suspending Steve Ballmer And Pulling Draft Picks

The NBA has lowered the boom on the Los Angeles Clippers, suspending owner Steve Ballmer and stripping the team of draft picks in the wake of a salary-cap probe centered on star player Kawhi Leonard. The team will forfeit their first-round picks in the NBA Draft from 2029 through 2033, the league said. Ballmer was suspended for “all league and team activities for one year,” the NBA said in a press release, for “knowingly” helping to arrange for a series of phony sponsorship deals. The ultimate offense, as the league described it, was the former Microsoft CEO’s “failure to create conditions under which his organization abided by the NBA’s circumvention rules.” The year-long investigation by law firm Law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz stemmed from a report last year by podcaster Pablo Torre. The report said Leonard had agreed to a $28 million no-show contract with California environmental company Aspiration, which had previously been a team sponsor. The investigation found three other companies had arrangements with the team and with Leonard that were not above board. The Clippers were found to be dodging the salary cap by paying Leonard more than what he made from the team for being a player. The NBA’s collective bargaining agreement limits what a player can make for what he does on the court. Watch on Deadline President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker and President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank were suspended without pay for one year and six months, respectively. Leonard, a two-time NBA Finals MVP signed by the Clippers as a free agent in 2019, was not suspended but was fined $700,000. Investigators “found a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations” when they examined the matter, the NBA said. The league noted that the Clippers were not a first-time offender, which was a factor in the extent of the disciplinary actions, which are believed to be the harshest in league history. ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter posted on X in the wake of the news that no NFL team has ever surrendered more than one first-round pick as a result of a league punishment. “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. “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.” While the Clippers call the second-largest city home, they have been overshadowed for decades by their cross-town rivals, the L.A. Lakers. They at least now play in their own stadium instead of sharing the same downtown venue. Intuit Dome, which was built in Inglewood near SoFi Stadium, opened its state-of-the-art doors two years ago. Ballmer, who is a rambunctious presence courtside at most Clipper games, injected new optimism among fans after the debacle of Donald Sterling’s tenure as owner. Ballmer has pledged to invest heavily in making the team a championship contender, and the few hopeful signs have been fleeting. Leonard helped lead L.A. to the Western Conference finals in 2021, but last year the team failed to make the playoffs.