NBA penalizes Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer for salary-cap violations
The league fined Steve Ballmer $30 million, suspended him for a year and imposed draft-pick forfeitures on the Los Angeles Clippers after an investigation found the team circumvented the salary cap.
The National Basketball Association announced Wednesday that Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer will be fined $30 million and barred from all team and league activities for one year following a breach of the league’s salary-cap rules. The franchise will also lose its first-round draft picks for 2029 through 2033. In addition, Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker received a one-year unpaid suspension, and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank was suspended without pay for six months. Kawhi Leonard, the player at the center of the controversy, was fined $700,000.
Commissioner Adam Silver said the penalties reflect the seriousness of the violations, adding, "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 investigation uncovered a $28 million equity and endorsement agreement between Leonard and a green-banking firm that later collapsed amid fraud charges. The NBA said the Clippers knowingly sought to help Leonard secure off-court income, which constituted a breach of trust with the league’s ownership.
The sanctions arrive amid broader scrutiny of NBA ownership, including recent changes involving the Los Angeles Lakers and cost-cutting measures by the Portland Trail Blazers’ owner. Journalists who first reported the cap-circumvention, such as former ESPN host Pablo Torre, continue to examine related ownership dealings.