The NBA stripped the LA Clippers of five first-round draft picks, fined the team $30 million and suspended owner Steve Ballmer for a full year, the heaviest salary cap punishment in league history. The Clippers say they reject it.
The league published its findings Wednesday evening after a nearly yearlong investigation by the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz into off-court payments to Kawhi Leonard. Investigators concluded the club had a pattern of misconduct and called it a prior offender of the circumvention rules.
According to the league's release, the Clippers created off-court income opportunities for Leonard with four companies that did business with the team: Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics and Lockton Insurance. The team then facilitated the endorsement agreements, induced the companies by offering them team business, paid personal expenses for Leonard and his representatives, and failed to report improper solicitations made through his then-business manager, Dennis Robertson.
The forfeited picks cover every draft from 2029 through 2033. President of business operations Gillian Zucker was suspended a year without pay, cited in part for giving investigators false and misleading statements. President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank was suspended six months without pay. The organization sits under a league compliance and monitoring program for five years. Leonard owes the NBA $700,000. Robertson is barred from dealing with NBA teams on any player's behalf for five years.
"The severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations," Commissioner Adam Silver said.
The Clippers vehemently rejected the findings and accused the investigation of bias, NPR reported. That sets up an awkward fight, because the league said it and the players union have agreed the penalties are final and binding on all parties. ESPN reported the team has not named an interim head of basketball operations, since it has not accepted the ruling.
The case started with a podcast. NPR reported that investigative journalist Pablo Torre revealed last September that Leonard had signed an endorsement deal with Aspiration, a tree-planting startup backed by Ballmer, for work he never performed. Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptors this summer.
NBC Sports called it the harshest cap penalty ever levied in any American sport. The last comparable NBA case, the Minnesota Timberwolves' secret deal with Joe Smith in 2000, cost that franchise five first-rounders and a $3.5 million fine, and owner Glen Taylor was suspended, ESPN reported. The most recent NFL cap penalty of any size hit the Denver Broncos with a fine under $2 million and two third-round picks, according to NBC Sports.