The NBA has stripped the Los Angeles Clippers of five first-round draft picks and fined billionaire owner Steve Ballmer $30 million over improper payments made to All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard.
The league announced on Wednesday that Ballmer, the former Microsoft chief executive, has also been suspended for one year following an investigation into allegations the team circumvented the salary cap.
According to the league, the Clippers funneled money to the 35-year-old Leonard through endorsement agreements with four companies doing business with the team. These included Aspiration, a green banking firm that has since gone bankrupt. Joseph Sandberg, the co-founder of Aspiration, has admitted to defrauding investors out of $248 million.
"The investigation found a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers organization, a prior offender of the salary cap circumvention rules," the NBA said in a statement.
Leonard was not suspended and will not have any contracts voided by the league. He was ordered to pay $700,000 in restitution for improper benefits received by him and his representative and uncle, Dennis Robertson, from the Clippers and other organizations.
Robertson has been banned from any business dealings with the NBA. Gillian Zucker, the Clippers president of business operations, received a one-year ban, while Lawrence Frank, the president of basketball operations, was suspended without pay for six months.
Appeals and team reaction
The league and the players' union consider all punishments to be binding. However, the Clippers issued a statement indicating they are not done fighting the ruling and look forward to an ethical and impartial arbitration process.
"We vehemently reject the NBA's findings, which are the result of a heavily biased investigation seeking to justify a predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence," the team said.
"What the league told us privately differs from what it announced today publicly, and they have not held themselves close to the standard Commissioner Silver set at the start of this investigation to ensure it's fairness and accuracy.
"For the past year, we cooperated fully and in good faith and we will now fight just as hard to demonstrate our innocence. We intend to vigorously challenge these findings and penalties through every avenue available to us."
Report findings on companies
A summary report prepared by the Wachtell Lipton law firm stated the Clippers violated rules by "initiating off-court income opportunities between Mr. Leonard and four companies doing business with the team." The four companies were Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics, and Lockton Insurance.
The Clippers were accused of facilitating endorsement deals, paying personal expenses on behalf of Leonard and his representatives, and inducing companies to enter agreements by offering other business with the team. The franchise also failed to report improper solicitations made by Robertson on his nephew's behalf.
The Wachtell Lipton report said the Clippers should have been aware of the rules after being fined $250,000 in 2015 for similar circumstances.
"In 2015, in circumstances similar to the matter at hand, the Clippers engaged in efforts to facilitate an endorsement agreement between DeAndre Jordan, a player the Clippers were then seeking to sign in free agency, and an incoming team sponsor," the report read. "The League investigated this matter, determined that the rules had been broken, and fined the Clippers $250,000."
The league statement noted that Leonard and Robertson were found to have pressured "the Clippers to assist [Leonard] in obtaining off-court income opportunities, successfully obtaining those opportunities, and failing to reimburse payments by the Clippers for personal expenses."
Leonard trade and statement
The Clippers recently agreed to trade Leonard back to the Toronto Raptors, the team he won an NBA title with in 2019 prior to signing with Los Angeles. The trade was placed on hold over the summer while the league investigated, but Leonard indicated he is now headed back to the shores of Lake Ontario.
"Integrity and respect for this game are fundamental to who I am," Leonard said in a statement issued by his agent.
"I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle and regret the distraction this situation has caused the fans and my family.
"I entered into my contract with the Clippers as well as the agreements in question in good faith, fully committed to fulfilling my obligations and with no knowledge of any intent on anyone's part to circumvent the salary cap.
"For 15 years, my priority has been giving everything to my family, the game, and those I share the court with. As I return to Toronto, I am focused on what I can control, closing this chapter, and moving forward with a clean slate."
League precedent and history
The punishment has some precedent. In 2000, late NBA commissioner David Stern stripped the Minnesota Timberwolves of five first-round draft picks after discovering the team circumvented the salary cap to improperly pay star forward Joe Smith.
The Timberwolves were fined only $3.5 million at the time, and had some picks returned after cooperating with the league.
Current NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the collectively bargained compensation system is a fundamental component of the competition.
"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," Silver said in a statement. "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."
Leonard's arrival in his native Southern California was supposed to usher in a new era for the traditional NBA cellar-dwelling Clippers. The franchise paid Leonard $291 million over seven seasons, not including the millions funneled through other businesses and the $30 million team fine.
To lure him to the team, the Clippers traded budding guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to the Oklahoma City Thunder for veteran All-Star Paul George. Gilgeous-Alexander went on to win a league MVP award and an NBA championship with the Thunder.
The Clippers reached the Western Conference semifinals in 2020 and the finals in 2021, but have failed to win a playoff series since.
Origin of allegations
The allegations surfaced almost a year ago on Pablo Torre's podcast, sparking the NBA investigation into the team and Ballmer for allegedly facilitating an under-the-table side deal that allowed the Clippers to add other stars like George.
The team denied the accusations repeatedly. Ballmer stated he had no knowledge of an alleged $28 million "no-show" endorsement deal between Leonard and the doomed financial services firm Aspiration.
Torre cited a 2025 bankruptcy filing naming the Clippers and KL2 Aspire LLC, a company owned by Leonard, as creditors for Aspiration QFZ, LLC, a subsidiary of fintech and sustainability brand Aspiration Partners Inc.
Torre claimed to have contracts showing the Aspiration subsidiary entered into the $28 million "no-show" agreement with Leonard's company, and later cited a Boston Sports Journal report to claim the player received a separate $20 million "side deal" from Aspiration.
As the team was embarking on a $300 million deal with the green bank in 2021, Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration through an LLC. Aspiration then signed Leonard to the $28 million deal in April 2022. Leonard did not publicly endorse the company at any point.
A Delaware federal court bankruptcy filing obtained by the Daily Mail shows unsecured claims of $30 million for the Clippers and $7 million for KL2 Aspire LLC.
Previous investigations
Ballmer said last year he was "embarrassed" to have missed the financial trouble at Aspiration, but defended his and the team's actions and said they "weren't involved" in Leonard's deal. The Clippers said in a statement they "ended its relationship with Aspiration years ago, during the 2022-23 season, when Aspiration defaulted on its obligation."
Torre reported that payments from Aspiration QFZ to KL2 Aspire were sent to Robertson. The uncle and advisor was investigated by the NBA in 2019 for allegedly requesting impermissible benefits for himself and his nephew.
That investigation did not find any impermissible benefits going from the team to Leonard or his representatives. A year later, Johnny Wilkes, a self-described acquaintance of Leonard and Robertson, sued the Clippers claiming he was owed $2.5 million for helping to sign the former Toronto Raptors and San Antonio Spurs star.
Wilkes claimed Ballmer promised to "fund a $100,000,000.00 marketing campaign for Kawhi Leonard" and that Robertson would get a Southern California home if the forward signed with the team.
The lawsuit was dismissed and no wrongdoing was admitted by the Clippers or Robertson.
