The NBA has imposed its harshest sanctions yet on the Los Angeles Clippers and its owner, Steve Ballmer, after a year-long investigation found that the franchise circumvented salary cap regulations to favor star player Kawhi Leonard.
The Clippers would lose five first-round picks from 2029 to 2033 and were fined $30 million. Palmer was suspended for one year for intentionally trying to help Leonard secure off-field employment.
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The league reported that Ballmer approved a trade deal between the Clippers and Aspiration, which investigators found was tied to Leonard’s sponsorship agreement with the company. NBA officials concluded that the Clippers attempted to bypass league rules by claiming that players may be linked to business associates when requested by the player or his representatives. This argument was rejected.
The Clippers issued a statement rejecting the results of the investigation funded by Ballmer, and announced plans to appeal the sanctions. However, a source familiar with NBA regulations noted that the team has no right to appeal or seek arbitration against the penalties.
The statement said, according to what was reported by the New York Times: “We strongly reject the findings reached by the NBA, which were the result of a highly biased investigation that seeks to justify a predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence.” “Over the past year, we have cooperated fully and in good faith, and now we will fight just as hard to prove our innocence.”
In a two-page letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, David N. Kelly, an attorney from O’Melveny and Myers who represents the Clippers, called the investigation a “witch hunt.” Kelly stated that NBA officials privately informed team executives that investigators had found no agreement related to the ambition to transfer money to Leonard. Instead, the league is pursuing a new theory that the Clippers introduced Leonard to the team’s business partners.
“This process is designed to prove a predetermined outcome,” Kelly wrote. “We are exploring every legal remedy to address this gross injustice,” the letter concluded.
The announcement concludes a lengthy investigation that began examining whether the Clippers violated the NBA’s salary cap rules through Leonard’s endorsement deal with Aspiration. The probe’s range expanded as it advanced.
