The LA Clippers and Kawhi Leonard faced heavy punishment from the NBA this year. They were found guilty of salary-cap circumvention by the league which lead to a $700k fine for Leonard and heavier sanctions for the Clippers. In short, it was the biggest controversy in the NBA so far this year. Even so, perennial firestarter Stephen A. Smith has thrust himself right in the middle of this saga. In fact, he has kicked things up a notch with his comments.
Smith’s latest comments came after the NBA’s investigation into the Clippers and Leonard reached its conclusion. The NBA found that the Clippers had engaged in a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rule violations. This included off-court income opportunities for Leonard, something the NBA simply does not allow. The Clippers were fined $30 million and stripped of five first-round draft picks covering the 2029 through 2033 drafts. Moreover, their owner Steve Ballmer was banned from all league and team activities for a year.
The punishment became even more significant because Clippers owner Steve Ballmer was suspended for one year, while president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank received a six-month suspension and president of business operations Gillian Zucker received a one-year suspension. Leonard’s former business manager and uncle, Dennis Robertson, was also handed a five-year ban from conducting business with NBA teams and their affiliates. The league additionally placed the Clippers under a five-year compliance and monitoring program.
With Leonard now returning to Toronto, Smith turned his attention to what he views as the disparity between the consequences for the player and those suffered by the franchise. Speaking on his show, Smith described Leonard in extraordinarily blunt terms, saying, “He’s a gangster.” He continued by saying Leonard “broke the rules, got caught, pointed the finger at somebody else, threw the organization under the bus, got his money, and left the country.” Smith then added, “I mean, damn, how much better can it get than that?”
Smith’s description is his own characterization of Leonard’s conduct rather than a finding by the NBA. The league’s investigation established violations involving the Clippers and Leonard’s business arrangements, but the “gangster” label comes entirely from Smith’s commentary. Leonard, meanwhile, accepted responsibility for mistakes made by people in his inner circle and was fined $700,000 without receiving a suspension.
The scale of the difference between the penalties is central to understanding why Smith has been so critical. Leonard was permitted to continue his career, while the Clippers lost five first-round selections and were subjected to major financial and organizational sanctions. For a franchise attempting to build around Leonard since signing him in 2019, the loss of five consecutive first-round picks represents a major alteration to its future roster-building plans.
SAS unsure whether Clippers will recover from Kawhi Leonard saga
Smith had already questioned the Clippers’ decision-making before using the “gangster” label. After the NBA announced the punishment on September 2, he questioned why Los Angeles had taken such enormous risks for Leonard, particularly given his injury history and the team’s postseason record during his time there.
“This is some all time egregious stuff. I take it back all-time stupid stuff,” Smith said. He then compared the decision with what the Clippers might have done for LeBron James or Stephen Curry, before asking, “Kawhi Leonard? You did that for Kawhi Leonard?” He also pointed out that the problems stretched back to around 2023 and argued that the Clippers had already been struggling to make the most of their investment.
Smith ultimately questioned whether the Clippers could recover from the punishment at all. “And I don’t know if the Clippers will ever recover from this,” he said. “This is catastrophic. This is so bad.” Those comments were separately reported by HITC on September 3, with the outlet focusing on Smith’s uncertainty about the franchise’s ability to rebuild after losing five first-round picks and absorbing the other penalties.
There is, however, an important distinction between that older discussion and Smith’s latest comments. Heavy had already published Smith’s “I don’t know if the Clippers will ever recover from this” remarks in its September 2 coverage, including the full section comparing Leonard with LeBron James and Stephen Curry. The new “gangster” statement therefore represents a newer piece of commentary from Smith, while the “ever recover” remarks provide context for the criticism he has been directing at the Clippers and Leonard.
Leonard’s situation has also changed since those earlier comments. The Raptors and Clippers have now completed the trade that sends him back to Toronto, the franchise he led to the first-ever NBA championship in 2019. The ‘Klaw’ is also coming off a career-best 27.9 points per game in the 2025-26 season and finished seventh in MVP voting, per Reuters.
The trade means Leonard can now begin the next chapter of his career in Toronto, but the fallout from the Clippers saga remains attached to his departure from Los Angeles. The Clippers have lost five future first-round picks, paid a $30 million fine and seen Ballmer and other executives suspended, while Leonard received a $700,000 fine and continued his career without a suspension.
Smith’s “gangster” comment is therefore the latest escalation in his public criticism of Leonard. His earlier comments questioned the Clippers’ judgment and whether the franchise could recover from the penalties, while his latest statement focuses directly on how he interprets Leonard’s role in the controversy. With Leonard now back in Toronto and the Clippers facing years of consequences from the NBA ruling, the saga has moved beyond the trade itself.
The LA Clippers and Kawhi Leonard faced heavy punishment from the NBA this year