The NBA announced on Wednesday that the Los Angeles Clippers made “multiple significant rules violations” and handed the franchise a steep punishment.
According to ESPN, the Clippers have been fined $30 million. Team owner Steve Ballmer is suspended for one season, as well as team president of business operations Gillian Zucker.
President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank is also suspended, but only for six months. Both Zucker and Frank are suspended without pay.
The Clippers have also been stripped of five first-round picks from 2029 to 2033.
As for Kawhi Leonard, he didn’t receive a suspension but was ordered to pay $700,000 to the NBA. His trade to the Toronto Raptors is expected to get finalized soon, as reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Mark Cuban Sends Message to Pablo Torre
Former ESPN reporter Pablo Torre was the first to report that Steve Ballmer and the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented the salary cap last year. Torre even won a Pulitzer Price for his work on Ballmer and the Clippers issue.
While plenty of people lauded Torre for his investigative work, others dismissed it, including Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban.
But after the NBA’s announcement of the Clippers’ punishment, Cuban wrote a two-word message to Torre on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Congrats Pablo,” Cuban tweeted.
Torre responded by inviting Cuban to join his live reaction to the Clippers announcement on his YouTube channel.
Fans kept receipts on Cuban, sharing screenshots of his Steve Ballmer defense nearly a year ago.
@GuruLakers: “Mark Cuban was fighting for his life for 40 days & 40 nights when this dropped. Went to complete bat for Ballmer. Congrats is weak. Say how loud and WRONG you were.”
@CWilliamson44: “Lmaoooo this got to be one of the saltiest congrats I’ve ever seen. Mr. “I’m on Team Ballmer…he can’t be this dumb…” was loud and wrong lol.”
@LakerCj: “This is so back handed man, the integrity of the league was at stake and you were more concerned about being right than accepting facts.”
LA Clippers Statement on NBA Punishment
In a statement released on social media, the Los Angeles Clippers “vehemently” rejected the NBA’s findings and vowed to “fight” the punishments handed to them.
“We vehemently reject the NBA findings, which are the result of a heavily biased investigation seeking 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.”
The NBA and NBPA have already agreed on the penalties handed to the Clippers, but Steve Ballmer’s attorney said that they are going to “explore every legal remedy” to clear his client and the Clippers’ names.
Mark Cuban Sends 2-Word Message to Pablo Torre After LA Clippers Punishment