Archive · 3 Sep 2026
NBA Fines Clippers $30 Million Over Kawhi Leonard Deal
The NBA says the Clippers broke rules designed to keep teams from secretly paying players more money.
The league said the team helped Kawhi Leonard receive improper income through sponsorship agreements.
These deals involved Aspiration, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics and Lockton Insurance.
The NBA fined the Clippers $30 million, which is its largest team fine ever.
The team must also give up five future first-round draft picks.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and two executives received suspensions or a ban.
Leonard was fined $700,000, while his former business manager Dennis Robertson received a five-year ban from working with NBA teams.
The Clippers said the investigation was unfair and promised to fight the punishment.
Leonard said he accepted responsibility for mistakes by people around him but did not know anyone was trying to break salary-cap rules.
The NBA fined the Los Angeles Clippers a record $30 million for salary-cap violations.
The Clippers must forfeit first-round draft picks in each year from 2029 through 2033.
Owner Steve Ballmer was banned for one year, while executives Gillian Zucker and Lawrence Frank were suspended.
The investigation found sponsorship arrangements involving Kawhi Leonard and four Clippers corporate sponsors.
The Clippers rejected the findings and said they would challenge the penalties through arbitration.
- Who
- The National Basketball Association, the Los Angeles Clippers, Kawhi Leonard, Steve Ballmer and other Clippers officials.
- What
- The NBA imposed a record $30 million fine, five draft-pick forfeitures and individual suspensions or bans over alleged salary-cap violations.
- When
- The penalties were announced on Tuesday; the relevant sponsorship arrangements were made after Leonard signed with the Clippers in 2022.
- Where
- The case involved the Los Angeles Clippers and agreements with their corporate sponsors.
- Why
- The NBA said the Clippers facilitated improper income opportunities for Leonard and failed to follow salary-cap and reporting rules.
NBA Findings
Clippers and Leonard Responses
Nature of the sponsorship agreements
NBA Findings
The NBA said the Clippers initiated and facilitated sponsorship-income agreements with Leonard and induced companies to participate by offering them business.
Clippers and Leonard Responses
The Clippers rejected the league's findings as based on a biased investigation and a predetermined narrative.
Leonard's knowledge and responsibility
NBA Findings
The NBA said Leonard violated salary-cap rules by obtaining improper off-court income, pressuring the Clippers for opportunities and failing to reimburse expenses.
Clippers and Leonard Responses
Leonard accepted responsibility for lapses in judgment by people in his inner circle but said he entered the agreements in good faith and had no knowledge of an effort to circumvent the salary cap.
Fairness of the investigation
NBA Findings
Commissioner Adam Silver said the violations were flagrant and that the penalties reflected their seriousness.
Clippers and Leonard Responses
The Clippers said feedback they received from the NBA differed from the public announcement and vowed to challenge the penalties through every available avenue.
- Team fine
- $30 million, the largest fine ever imposed on an NBA team.
- Draft penalties
- The Clippers will forfeit first-round picks from the 2029 through 2033 NBA drafts.
- Kawhi Leonard fine
- $700,000.
- Owner penalty
- Steve Ballmer was banned from league and team activities for one year.
- Executive penalties
- Gillian Zucker was suspended for one year and Lawrence Frank for six months.
- Sponsors named
- Aspiration, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics and Lockton Insurance.
- Former business manager
- Dennis Robertson was banned from engaging with NBA teams for five years.