The National Basketball Association (NBA) has fined the Los Angeles Clippers $30m and stripped five first-round draft picks to punish the franchise for violating salary cap circumvention rules involving star forward Kawhi Leonard, who has been ordered to pay $700,000, the league said. The NBA’s investigation, conducted independently over the course of a year, “found a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers organisation, a prior offender of the salary cap circumvention rules”, the league said in a statement on Wednesday. The heart of the issue was the team introducing Leonard to club sponsors for off-court income opportunities and endorsement agreements, offering the companies business from the team as inducements and paying personal expenses for Leonard and his representatives, among other violations.
The businesses identified were Boingo Wireless, Daktronics, Lockton Insurance and Aspiration Partners, the latter a financial technology firm that went bankrupt last year. Aspiration allegedly signed Leonard to a $28m endorsement deal and had a 23-year, $300m sponsorship deal with the Clippers. The Clippers must forfeit a first-round pick in each draft from 2029 to 2033.
Leonard, 35, has been fined $700,000 while several Clippers executives have been suspended. The NBA suspended owner Steve Ballmer for one year from all league and team activities “for knowingly seeking to help Mr Leonard obtain off-court income opportunities, for approving a business deal that he knew was a precondition for Aspiration to enter into an endorsement agreement with Mr Leonard, and for his failure to create conditions under which his organisation abided by the NBA’s circumvention rules”, it said. Team president of business operations Gillian Zucker is suspended without pay for a year “for being primarily and directly culpable for the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for providing false and misleading statements to investigators”, the NBA said.
Lawrence Frank, the president of basketball operations, is suspended for six months without pay “for his involvement with the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for approving impermissible expenses incurred by Mr Leonard and his family”, the league said. The Clippers issued a statement on Wednesday disputing the league’s conclusions and the validity of the investigation. The team and Ballmer have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing related to Leonard’s contract.
Robertson was banned by the NBA for five years from doing business or engaging with league teams and their affiliates. The Toronto Raptors, who lost Leonard to the Clippers via free agency after winning the 2019 NBA championship, agreed in principle to a trade on June 30 to bring him back. The deal has yet to be executed as the teams waited for the league’s investigation to be completed.
The severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations.” The law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz conducted the investigation and continues to receive information, leaving open the possibility of further action as appropriate, the league said. Leonard is a two-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, having won the award in title runs with the San Antonio Spurs (2014) and Toronto (2019). He averaged 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 65 games last season for the Clippers, who finished ninth in the Western Conference and lost their play-in game to the Golden State Warriors.
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