The NBA handed out the harshest punishment in league history on September 2, stripping the Los Angeles Clippers of five first-round draft picks and fining owner Steve Ballmer $30 million for secretly routing endorsement money to Kawhi Leonard in violation of salary cap rules, per NBA.com.
The penalty, pick by pick
The Clippers forfeit unprotected first-round picks in each of the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033 NBA Drafts – five years of top-end leverage wiped out at once. Ballmer is suspended from all team and league activities for one year. President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank received a six-month ban, while president of business operations Gillian Zucker was suspended for twelve months.
Leonard himself was fined $700,000 but will not be suspended. His uncle and business manager, Marcus “Uncle Dennis” Robertson, was banned for five years from conducting business with NBA teams.
What investigators found
The league opened its probe in September 2025 after Leonard’s $28 million endorsement deal with Aspiration Partners – a fund that filed for bankruptcy in 2025 – drew scrutiny. Investigators found that the Clippers funneled off-court income opportunities to Leonard through four corporate partners: Aspiration, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics and Lockton Insurance. The arrangement, per ESPN, operated as an unofficial condition for keeping Leonard on the roster. The league concluded Ballmer “knowingly” sought to help Leonard obtain income outside the cap system – a finding that left no technical-loophole defense standing.
No path to appeal
Both the NBA and the NBPA confirmed the penalties are final and cannot be reopened. The Clippers announced their intention to challenge the ruling – that door is closed. For context: the Minnesota Timberwolves lost five draft picks in the Joe Smith scandal of 2000. This punishment lands in the same territory, compounded by a suspended owner.
What comes next
With Ballmer sidelined for a year and the front office destabilized, the Clippers enter the 2026-27 season at a genuine crossroads. Leonard’s trade to Toronto, paused during the investigation, is back on track now that the ruling has cleared the way; the deal is expected to be finalized within days.
Sources: NBA.com official findings / ESPN
