In Reply to: More about the great lost art of the fast break posted by mh on September 03, 2026 at 09:52:05
The Kawhi Leonard saga came to a head on Wednesday, Sept. 2, when the NBA released the results of an 11-month investigation that concluded the Los Angeles Clippers knowingly circumvented the league's salary cap through "no-show" endorsement deals for their former star forward.
The Clippers are being fined $30 million, and the team will forfeit five first-round picks in the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033 NBA drafts. Leonard has been fined $700,000, but will not be suspended. The league, however, is suspending Ballmer, the team's owner, from all league activities for one year.
It's perhaps the harshest punishment in NBA history. Here's what we know.
The official investigation report from the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz explicitly lays out why the organization was hit with such harsh penalties.
Throughout the 36-page document, investigators state the three individuals most responsible for the Clippers’ rule-breaking are team owner Steve Ballmer, president of business operations Gillian Zucker and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank. Among their transgressions:
- The Clippers were punished for circumventing the NBA salary cap before. The team was fined $250,000 in 2015 for trying to facilitate an endorsement deal for free agent DeAndre Jordan.
- The Clippers denied agreeing to requests from one of Leonard's relatives for additional benefits prohibited under the CBA.
- The Clippers introduced Leonard to representatives of companies who later became corporate sponsors of the team and who signed endorsement deals with Leonard at almost the exact same time.
- The Clippers executives repeatedly delayed and attempted to obfuscate the NBA's ability to obtain information about the case.