After being slapped with five forfeited draft picks and a one-year suspension for owner Steve Ballmer, the Clippers organization insists it will still challenge the findings, even though the league says that fight is already over.
The NBA announced the ruling closing its yearlong investigation on Sept. 2, 2026, finding that the Clippers and Leonard violated salary-cap circumvention rules in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The independent probe, run by law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, traces back to reporting by journalist Pablo Torre in September 2025 about Leonard’s endorsement deal with the now-bankrupt Aspiration Partners.
Investigators called the Clippers a repeat offender. Commissioner Adam Silver said he was “deeply disappointed by the flagrant violations of our rules and by the Clippers’ institutional and leadership failures,” adding that “the severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations,” according to the league’s release.
Los Angeles Clippers’ Penalties in Kawhi Leonard Case
The league found the Clippers steered off-court income deals to Leonard through four team business partners, including Aspiration, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics and Lockton Insurance, then covered personal expenses for Leonard’s camp. His uncle and former business manager, Dennis Robertson, pushed for those deals and never reported the solicitations.
The Clippers forfeit five first-round picks, one apiece from 2029 through 2033, and pay a $30 million fine. Ballmer draws a one-year ban from all team and league activity. President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker is suspended without pay for a year, and President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank is suspended without pay for six months. Leonard, who avoided a suspension or voided contract, owes the league $700,000, while Robertson is barred for five years from doing business with any NBA team.
The organization now falls under a five-year, league-run compliance program. A proposed trade sending Leonard to Toronto for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and multiple picks had been on hold pending the outcome and can now move forward.
Why the Clippers Can’t Take This to Arbitration
The NBA and the players’ union already signed off on the punishment.
“The NBA and the NBPA have entered into an agreement confirming these penalties are final and binding on all parties,” the league stated in its release, closing the door on the internal grievance process teams typically use to contest discipline.
That hasn’t stopped the Clippers from pushing back publicly.
“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, according to a statement shared by Charania. “We intend to vigorously challenge these findings and penalties through every avenue available to us and look forward to an ethical and impartial arbitration process.”
Charania reported the Clippers’ only recourse now must come in court, not through any league process.
Leonard struck a different tone in his own statement, issued through new agent Harrison Gaines.
“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,” Leonard said, as quoted by Charania. “As I return to Toronto, I am focused on what I can control, closing this chapter, and moving forward with a clean slate.”
Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison in June for a $248 million fraud scheme, a case the Clippers have cited in arguing Ballmer was a victim, not a co-conspirator.
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