Inside the Scandal That Cost the LA Clippers $30 Million and Five Draft Picks
The NBA has delivered one of its harshest punishments in recent history after concluding that the Los Angeles Clippers violated salary-cap rules in connection with Kawhi Leonard’s off-court income opportunities.
After months of investigation, the league found a “pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations” involving the Clippers organization, according to NPR. The investigation focused heavily on a $28 million endorsement agreement between Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC, an environmental finance company with ties to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.
The issue was not simply that Leonard had an endorsement deal. NBA players are permitted to earn money through legitimate sponsorships.
The problem, according to the league’s findings, was that the Clippers helped create off-court income opportunities that effectively provided Leonard with additional compensation while keeping the money outside the team’s salary-cap calculations.
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Investigators concluded that Leonard received benefits through arrangements in which the expected promotional work was minimal or completely nonexistent. The league viewed those arrangements as part of an alleged effort to bypass restrictions designed to prevent teams from using outside business relationships to provide players with additional money.
Now, the NBA has responded with sweeping penalties.
The Clippers were fined $30 million and stripped of five first-round draft picks, one in each draft from 2029 through 2033. According to the Associated Press, Ballmer was suspended from league and team activities for one year, while Clippers executives Gillian Zucker and Lawrence Frank received one-year and six-month suspensions, respectively. Dennis Robertson, Leonard’s uncle and former business manager, was also banned from NBA activities for five years.
The man at the center of the case, Leonard, was also punished, but his penalty was considerably lighter.
He received a $700,000 fine, but was not suspended, according to CBS Sports. His contract was also not voided, meaning the league did not impose the most severe potential consequences on the star forward.
Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptors back in June, but the agreement was paused pending the salary-cap investigation. Now, he’s set to return to the Raptors without a chip on his shoulder.
“As I return to Toronto, I am focused on what I can control, closing this chapter, and moving forward with a clean slate,” he said in a statement obtained by ESPN’s Shams Charania.
That difference has become one of the most interesting aspects of the case. Leonard has maintained that he acted in good faith and was unaware of any wrongdoing involving the arrangements.
The Clippers, meanwhile, said they “vehemently reject” the NBA’s findings in a written statement, calling the investigation biased and saying they will challenge the penalties.
