The NBA handed out severe punishments to the Los Angeles Clippers and superstar Kawhi Leonard on Wednesday for allegedly circumventing the league’s salary cap rules, closing a year-long saga and investigation into an off-the-court sponsorship deal.
LA will forfeit five future first-round draft picks from 2029 to 2033. The franchise already does not have draft picks in 2027 and 2028 due to prior trades.
In addition, owner Steve Ballmer will be suspended from all league and team activities for one year, and the franchise was fined $30 million.
Leonard himself must pay the league $700,000. He was traded to the Toronto Raptors earlier this summer, but the transaction was placed on hold as the investigation ensued.
“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,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “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.”
The NBA said the penalties were handed out as a result of an endorsement agreement between Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC, which filed for bankruptcy last year. The company’s co-founder Joseph Sanberg was sentenced in June to 14 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to defrauding multiple lenders and investors of at least $248 million.
Leonard, the NBA says, pressured the Clippers to assist him with off-court income opportunities like the Aspiration endorsement. The investigation found he failed to reimburse the team’s payments for personal expenses.
In a statement, Leonard said he accepts “full responsibility for lapses in judgement” by people in his inner circle.
“For 15 years, my priority has been giving everything to my family, the game, and those I share the court with,” he said. “As I return to Toronto, I am focused on what I can control, closing this chapter, and moving forward with a clean slate.”
The league said Ballmer knowingly sought to help Leonard “obtain off-court income opportunities” in order to circumvent the league’s salary cap rules.
According to the NBA, the penalties came after an independent investigation conducted by the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. The findings come almost one year after sports journalist Pablo Torre reported on Leonard’s alleged endorsement on an episode of his podcast, “Pablo Torre Finds Out.” The podcast’s staff won a Pulitzer Prize for the reporting.