NBA penalizes Clippers and Kawhi 

Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers learned their fate last week after the NBA finalized its investigation into the Clippers allegedly circumventing the league’s salary cap rules, closing a year-long saga over an off-the-court sponsorship deal.

LA will forfeit five future first-round draft picks from 2029 to 2033, with the franchise already without its first-round picks for 2027-28 due to trades. With the stripping of picks, Clippers fans can kiss the rebuild goodbye as the organization scrambles for talent on an undesirable roster.

In addition to the picks forfeited, owner Steve Ballmer will be suspended from all league and team activities for one year, and the franchise was fined $30 million.

Leonard was also fined 700,000, and his trade to the Toronto Raptors was placed on hold for the time being.

“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.”  

In a statement, the Clippers said the franchise rejects the NBA’s findings, claiming the investigation was “heavily biased” and justified a “predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence.”

“What the league told us privately differs from what it announced today publicly, and they have not held themselves close to the standards Commissioner Silver set at the start of this investigation to ensure its fairness and accuracy,” the team said. “We intend to vigorously challenge these findings and penalties through every avenue available to us and look forward to an ethical and impartial arbitration process.”

The league said Ballmer knowingly sought to help Leonard “obtain off-court income opportunities” to circumvent the league’s salary cap rules.

The league looked into Leonard and the Clippers after Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC filed for bankruptcy last year, as the company co-founder Joseph Sanberg defrauded multiple lenders and investors out of $248 million. Sanberg was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison in June after pleading guilty to the charge. Aspiration helped Leonard with these off-court income opportunities, but once the feds became involved, so did the NBA. During the investigation, the league learned that the Clippers were investing in Aspiration in exchange for business deals in place with other companies, including Boingo Wireless, Daktronics, and Lockton Insurance. A violation of the salary cap agreement, as teams can’t use that money to invest in players’ off-the-court vendors. It was also revealed that  Leonard’s uncle and former business manager, Dennis Robertson, pressured the Clippers on his nephew’s behalf to work with Aspiration. He has since been fired and banned from the NBA.

“For 15 years, my priority has been giving everything to my family, the game, and those I share the court with,” Leonard said, taking full responsibility for the decisions people around him made. “As I return to Toronto, I am focused on what I can control, closing this chapter, and moving forward with a clean slate.”