New York (AFP) – The Los Angeles Clippers were stripped of five first-round draft picks and fined $30 million by the NBA on Wednesday after a probe uncovered major salary cap violations involving star Kawhi Leonard. The Clippers will forfeit a first-round NBA Draft pick every year from 2029 to 2033 after having been found to have aided Leonard in getting around salary cap rules in deals with team corporate sponsors.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer was banned from all league and team activities for one year, team president of business operations Gillian Zucker was suspended for a year without pay, and Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank was suspended for six months. Additionally, Leonard was fined $700,000. “The NBA’s collectively bargained system for determining player compensation is a fundamental component of the basketball competition that the league oversees for the benefit of the teams and players and ultimately the fans,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said.
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“I’m deeply disappointed by the flagrant violations of our rules and by the Clippers’ institutional and leadership failures that led to this misconduct. The severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations.” The punishments came after an investigation into the Clippers and their work with Leonard involving sponsorship contracts uncovered what the NBA, in a statement, called “a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers organization, a prior offender of the salary cap circumvention rules” from the NBA contract with the players union.
The law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz found that the Clippers initiated and facilitated off-court sponsorship income deals between Leonard and four firms that had deals with the team — Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics, and Lockton Insurance. The probe found that the club induced companies to enter into agreements with Leonard by offering them business from the team, paid personal expenses for Leonard and his representatives, and failed to report improper solicitations for off-court income opportunities for Leonard by his then-business manager, Dennis Robertson.
Leonard, through Robertson’s conduct, violated salary cap rules by obtaining improper off-court income opportunities, pressuring the Clippers to assist him in getting them, and failing to reimburse the Clippers for payments of personal expenses. Robertson was banned from engaging with NBA teams or affiliates on behalf of any player, employee, or other NBA or team personnel for five years. The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association agreed that the penalties are final and binding to all parties, but the league noted that investigators continue to receive information on the case and the NBA “will consider further action as appropriate.”
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