Steve Ballmer can’t attend Clippers games or even enter team offices during suspension

Steve Ballmer owns the Clippers. For the next year, he’ll have to do so from a considerable distance.

Ballmer’s one-year suspension stemming from the NBA’s Kawhi Leonard investigation prohibits him from attending Clippers games and practices or entering the team’s offices, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. He’s also barred from influencing personnel or business decisions.

In other words, this isn’t merely Adam Silver telling Ballmer to stay away from the owner’s suite for a while.

Ballmer must also select an interim governor to represent the franchise during his suspension. Vardon identifies Clippers alternate governor Dennis Wong as the most obvious candidate.

Wong is a longtime friend and business associate of Ballmer who has held a minority stake in the franchise since Ballmer purchased it in 2014.

Ballmer was also fined as part of the massive punishment handed down after the NBA determined the Clippers violated salary-cap circumvention rules involving Leonard.

The fine hurts. But for an owner as involved and visible as Ballmer, spending an entire NBA season unable to attend games, enter the building or have a say in how his own franchise operates might be the stranger punishment.