Clippers clipped

After a year of investigation, the NBA has finally decided on the case of salary cap rule circumvention against the LA Clippers on behalf of Kawhi Leonard, and the punishment is stiff, the biggest in the history of the league.

The league concluded that LAC manipulated the salary cap by giving Leonard millions of dollars more than his stipulated contract thru four separate “no-show” endorsement deals with firms associated with the Clippers – Aspiration, Lockton Insurance, Boingo Wireless and Daktronics.   From Aspiration alone, reports say that Kawhi got $28 million more over his contract.

It was also revealed that Leonard’s side, thru Dennis Robertson, his uncle acting as his agent, pressured LAC to do the maneuvering to get more prospective income from off-court sources.   And reports say that Kawhi is unaware of these.  Yeah, right.  Simply said, it’s all about greed.

The penalties given will have the Clippers losing 5 first round picks (2029 to 2033) and will be fined $30 million.   Except for paying bills and signing checks, team owner Steve Ballmer will be banned from team activities for one year “for knowingly seeking to help Mr. Leonard obtain off-court income opportunities.”  Ironically, Ballmer helped fund the probe on this scandal.

“Uncle” Dennis is banned from dealing with NBA teams for five years.  Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank is suspended for six months, and head of business operations Gillian Zucker received a one-year suspension.

For the 2026-2027 season, Kawhi is to get $50.3 million.  A mere $700,000 is given to him as penalty which could not even make a tiny dent on his big, fat contract.

The dollar obsession was evident during his 2019 free agency after leading Toronto to their first NBA title.  The LA Lakers were interested in his services, but Leonard’s camp had hallucinatory demands.   He wants part-ownership of the Lakers, access to a private jet and guaranteed money from off-court endorsement deals.

LAL’s crosstown rival accommodated him and he asked to be paired with Paul George.  They traded Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and five first-round picks to Oklahoma for George.  With SGA and draft capital at their disposal, OKC steadily improved, winning the championship in 2025 with SGA as league MVP and Finals MVP.

The championship never came for the Clippers, Kawhi and Leonard alternated in the injury list.  Both players are gone from the organization and despite the new arena at Inglewood, the team once again is a bust.

With the LA Clippers clipped, Ballmer vowed to challenge the ruling.