The National Basketball Association has handed down a major punishment against the Los Angeles Clippers, ruling that the team circumvented the league's salary cap rules in order to sign star player Kawhi Leonard. The decision, described as a historic one, follows a formal investigation by the league into the way Leonard was compensated by the franchise.
At the center of the case is an endorsement deal worth $28 million that Leonard is alleged to have received from Aspiration, a green banking company that has since gone bankrupt. According to the league, that arrangement was used to compensate the player outside the framework of the salary cap, which is what ultimately triggered the sanctions against the team.
As part of those sanctions, the Clippers will lose five first-round draft picks. Stripping the franchise of that many selections is a significant penalty, because it limits the team's ability to add new players through the draft over the coming years and reshapes how it can build its roster going forward.
The league also imposed a financial penalty, ordering the Clippers to pay a fine of $30 million. That figure is separate from the loss of draft picks and represents a direct monetary cost to the organization, adding to the sporting consequences the club is now facing as a result of the ruling.
The punishment reaches the very top of the organization as well. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer has been suspended from all league activities for the next year, a personal sanction that keeps him out of any involvement with the NBA during that period rather than targeting only the club as an institution.
By contrast, the player at the heart of the case was treated far more leniently. Kawhi Leonard was fined $700,000, a sum that is modest when set against the loss of draft picks, the multimillion-dollar fine and the suspension handed to the team and its owner, signaling that the league aimed the bulk of its response at the franchise.
In response, the Clippers said they intend to vigorously challenge the findings. However, the only avenue available to them is through the courts, which means the dispute over the ruling could now move into a legal process rather than being settled inside the league, potentially extending the case well beyond the initial decision.