NBA hammers Clippers over Kawhi Leonard with $30 million fine, loss of five first-round picks

The NBA has dropped the hammer on the Clippers.

The league announced Wednesday that an independent investigation found the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard violated salary-cap circumvention rules through a series of off-court endorsement arrangements.

The penalties are massive. Los Angeles will forfeit five first-round draft picks, one in each year from 2029 through 2033, and has been fined $30 million. Owner Steve Ballmer has also been suspended from all league and team activities for one year. Along with that, Leonard must pay the league $700,000. 

The findings stem from an investigation conducted by the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz into the Clippers’ dealings with companies that did business with the organization.

According to the NBA, the Clippers initiated and facilitated income opportunities for Leonard involving Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics and Lockton Insurance.

More significantly, the league concluded that the Clippers induced companies to enter endorsement agreements with Leonard by offering those companies business from the organization.

The NBA also said the Clippers paid personal expenses for Leonard and his representatives and failed to report improper requests for outside income made by Leonard’s then-business manager, Dennis Robertson. Leonard was found to have violated the rules through Robertson’s conduct on his behalf.

“The severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations,” commissioner Adam Silver said, calling the conduct “flagrant” and citing “institutional and leadership failures” within the Clippers.

The punishment extends well beyond Ballmer. Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker has been suspended without pay for one year after the investigation found she was directly involved in the endorsement arrangements and provided false or misleading statements to investigators.

President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank has been suspended without pay for six months. And Robertson has been banned from conducting business with NBA teams and their affiliates on behalf of players or other league personnel for five years.

The Clippers will also operate under an NBA compliance and monitoring program for five years.

The investigation had hung over the organization for nearly a year, with questions centered on whether Leonard received outside compensation that effectively circumvented the salary cap.

Now the NBA has provided its answer. And it’s going to cost the Clippers well beyond $30 million. Five consecutive first-round picks are gone.