The Los Angeles Clippers were given one of the harshest punishments in NBA history following the league’s investigation of the salary cap scandal involving the team’s front office and Kawhi Leonard’s business associates.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer has been hit with a $30 million fine and a one-year suspension from all league and team activities for his role in facilitating improper off-court income opportunities and sponsorships for Leonard.
Additionally, the front office faced devastating personal sanctions, with President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker receiving a one-year suspension without pay for providing false and misleading statements to investigators.
President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank was hit with a six-month suspension without pay for approving the impermissible expenses. Beyond personnel bans, the franchise must forfeit five consecutive first-round draft picks spanning from 2029 to 2033 and submit to an intensive five-year league monitoring program.
Talking in a press conference on Tuesday, the NBA commissioner Adam Silver dropped his final verdict on the issue, saying that the punishments are now final.
“The discipline is final,” Silver said. “That’s your direct question.”
Clippers Can’t Do Anything To Change NBA’s Mind
This means that the NBA would not go the same route as they did during the Joe Smith and Minnesota Timberwolves salary cap scandal 20 years ago, when they retracted their initial punishments by giving back the Timberwolves’ two first-round picks.
Then-Commissioner David Stern fined the franchise $3.5 million, voided Smith’s contract, suspended owner Glen Taylor and general manager Kevin McHale, and stripped the team of five first-round draft picks (covering drafts from 2001 to 2005).
In December 2000, after Taylor accepted his suspension and McHale stepped away temporarily, the league restored Minnesota’s 2003 first-round draft pick.
By December 2001, the NBA restored the Timberwolves’ 2005 first-round pick as well, reducing the total penalty to three forfeited first-round picks, citing “good behavior” and cooperation with the league.
Notably, on Monday, the Clippers also accepted their punishments from the NBA after an initial outcry following the resolution.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Explains Rationale Behind Punishments on Clippers
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wanted to keep the league’s rules above anything else during the decision-making process on the Clippers’ punishments.
“I think everyone in the room understands that part of the core responsibility of the league is to have a set of rules that everyone agrees to operate under, and the league’s responsibility to enforce those rules,” Silver said. “And that if those rules are found to be violated, there then will be appropriate consequences.”
“Because while there have to be competitive consequences, our view, if these rules are violated, we still want to be a 30-team league. And we recognize that in some ways, we’re unfortunately punishing the fans of that team as well, and so that’s the balance we’re trying to seek.”
The punishments are expected to hold the Clippers back for the next decade, just like the precedent set by the Joe Smith scandal did to the Timberwolves.
Silver, however, believed the resolution does not mean the Clippers franchise is permanently damaged.
“I don’t think in any way we’ve done permanent damage to this franchise, but there’s no question this is a setback for the team,” he said.
For now, the Clippers must move forward with a new-look core, after trading away Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors.
More Bad News Hits the Clippers After NBA Punishments