The NBA has delivered one of its harshest recent punishments, stripping the LA Clippers of five future first-round picks and issuing a $30 million fine after finding salary-cap circumvention violations tied to Kawhi Leonard.
The NBA announced Wednesday that the LA Clippers will forfeit first-round selections in 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033 after an independent investigation found a pattern of misconduct involving off-court income opportunities for Leonard. The league also fined the franchise $30 million and suspended owner Steve Ballmer from all league and team activities for one year.
According to the league, the Clippers helped arrange endorsement opportunities between Leonard and four companies doing business with the organization, including Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics and Lockton Insurance. Investigators also found that the team facilitated those agreements, offered business to companies as an inducement and paid personal expenses for Leonard and his representatives.
The findings close a major chapter in a probe that had remained unresolved for months. The league had previously disputed reporting about the investigation, but its final determination says Leonard, through former business manager Dennis Robertson, violated circumvention rules by pressuring the team to help secure outside income opportunities and by failing to reimburse certain personal expenses.
The penalties extend well beyond Ballmer and the draft picks. Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker was suspended without pay for one year, President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank received a six-month unpaid suspension, and the organization will be placed under a five-year compliance and monitoring program.
Kawhi Leonard was ordered to pay the league $700,000, while Robertson was banned for five years from conducting business with NBA teams or their affiliates on behalf of players or other league personnel. The ruling lands after months of scrutiny surrounding Leonard’s off-court endorsement arrangements and the Clippers’ relationship with companies connected to those deals.
The decision could reshape the Clippers’ long-term roster-building strategy, with five consecutive first-round picks now removed from their future asset pool. Commissioner Adam Silver said the severity of the punishment reflected both the seriousness of the violations and what he described as institutional and leadership failures within the organization.
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