The National Basketball Association announced on Wednesday that it has levied an unprecedented punishment on the Los Angeles Clippers for attempting to circumvent the salary cap: The league will force the team to forfeit five first-round draft picks, fine it $30 million and suspend three top officials, including owner Steve Ballmer for a year.
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It marks the most severe penalty imposed on a team in a North American professional sport, but it may not mark the end to a drama that has lasted nearly a year.
Last September, the podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out” reported that the Clippers had sought to funnel money through a no-show, $28 million endorsement deal to star Kawhi Leonard. The team and the player alike denied the allegations; Ballmer insisted that he was a victim of fraud by the company, the now-defunct environmental firm Aspiration.
The league hired the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct an investigation, which found that the Clippers had facilitated off-court income opportunities between Leonard and four companies, and had paid personal expenses for him and his representatives.
Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement, “The severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations.”
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Leonard, whose trade to Toronto Raptors had been put on hold until the investigation was resolved, released a statement saying, in part, “I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle.” He has been fined $700,000.
The Clippers said they “vehemently reject” the league’s findings and will appeal.
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