NBA hits LA Clippers with heavy penalties for cap circumvention: Picks stripped and fines

[p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/los-angeles-clippers/vPeTYlqm/"]Los Angeles Clippers[/a] have been stripped of a record [b]five future first-round picks between 2029 and 2033[/b], while Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer was fined $30 million and received a one-year ban from all NBA activities.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leonard-kawhi/d4zqZuLO/"]Kawhi Leonard[/a] has to pay the league $700,000 in restitution for improper benefits, while Dennis Robertson, Leonard's uncle and business representative, has been banned by the NBA from all basketball business.[/p][p]Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker is suspended without pay for one year, while President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank is suspended without pay for six months.[/p][p]No team has ever been stripped of more than one first-round pick.[/p][embed guid="a97c2555-0eab-49b2-9c93-39db4ab4eafc" url="https://x.com/shamscharania/status/2095245737571308020?s=46" social-type="twitter" /][p]The league investigated the Clippers and Leonard for circumventing the salary cap by paying Leonard $28 million through a “no-show” endorsement deal with Aspiration, a green-banking firm partly funded by Los Angeles Clippers CEO Steve Ballmer, which went bankrupt last year.[/p][p]The NBA found that the Clippers had initiated off-court income for Leonard via four companies: Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics, and Lockton Insurance. The league stated that [b]"Mr Leonard, through the conduct of Mr Robertson on his behalf, violated the circumvention rules by pressuring the Clippers to assist him in obtaining off-court income opportunities, successfully obtaining those opportunities, and failing to reimburse payments by the Clippers for personal expenses."[/b][/p][p]Reporter Pablo Torre first brought the case to light in September 2025. More recently, the SEC has opened an investigation into scoreboard company Daktronics, which built the Clippers' $100 million scoreboard at the Intuit Dome, for allegedly paying Kawhi Leonard millions in another "no-show sponsorship" deal.[/p][image alt="Clippers owner Steve Ballmer has been suspended for one year and fined millions" id="1746cdb8-e396-426e-868f-3b3094528ca2" credit-line="Photo by WALLY SKALIJ / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP" guid="083a0e98-0a1e-440e-9507-de7d1e277d1e" original-width="7438" original-height="4843" /][p]In a statement shared by his new agent, Harrison Gaines, Kawhi Leonard, who was traded to the Toronto Raptors in the offseason, reacted to the NBA's verdict.[/p][p][b]“Integrity and respect for this game are fundamental to who I am. I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle and regret the distraction this situation has caused the fans and my family," [/b]Leonard said.[/p][p][b]"I entered into my contract with the Clippers as well as the agreements in question in good faith, fully committed to fulfilling my obligations and with no knowledge of any intent on anyone's part to circumvent the salary cap. For 15 years, my priority has been giving everything to my family, the game, and those I share the court with."[/b][/p][p][b]"As I return to Toronto, I am focused on what I can control, closing this chapter, and moving forward with a clean slate."[/b][/p][p]NBA Commissioner Adam Silver responded to the verdict by expressing his disappointment towards the Los Angeles Clippers.[/p][p][b]"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," [/b]Silver said.[/p][p][b]"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.”[/b][/p][infobox id="383e2abc-afe3-4139-8e06-aa4254ac57ee" /]