NBA fines LA Clippers $30M and strips five first-round draft picks after Kawhi Leonard probe
The NBA has imposed major penalties on the Los Angeles Clippers and forward Kawhi Leonard after an independent investigation found multiple violations of the league’s salary cap circumvention rules, Qazinform News Agency reports.
The investigation, conducted by the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, found a pattern of misconduct by the Clippers, which had previously violated the league’s salary cap circumvention rules.
According to the NBA, the Clippers initiated and facilitated off-court income opportunities for Leonard with four companies doing business with the team: Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics and Lockton Insurance.
The team helped arrange endorsement agreements with the companies, encouraged them to enter the deals by offering team business, and paid personal expenses for Kawhi Leonard and his representatives. It also failed to report improper solicitations for off-court income opportunities made on Leonard’s behalf through his then-business manager, Dennis Robertson.
Leonard, through Robertson’s conduct on his behalf, was found to have violated the circumvention rules by pressuring the Clippers to help secure off-court income opportunities, obtaining those opportunities and failing to reimburse payments made by the team for personal expenses.
The Clippers will forfeit five first-round draft picks, one each in the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033 NBA Drafts, and pay a $30 million fine.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is suspended from all league and team activities for one year. 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.
The Clippers and their personnel will also be subject to a five-year compliance and monitoring program overseen by the NBA. Leonard must pay the league $700,000, while Robertson is banned for five years from conducting business or otherwise engaging with NBA teams and their affiliates on behalf of or with respect to any player, employee or other league or team personnel.
The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association have entered into an agreement confirming that the penalties are final and binding on all parties. The league said it would consider further action if additional information relevant to the investigation emerges.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he was “deeply disappointed” by the violations and the “institutional and leadership failures” within the Clippers, adding that the severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the misconduct.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that the Philadelphia 76ers had officially signed four-time NBA champion and four-time NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James.
