The NBA has dropped the hammer on Steve Ballmer, Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers. And now, the Toronto Raptors must assess what they will do next.
A league-backed investigation that spanned 11 months concluded the Clippers circumvented the salary cap with its alleged facilitation of "no-show" endorsement deals for Leonard, their former star forward, the NBA announced Wednesday, Sept. 2 in a news release.
The Clippers are being fined a staggering $30 million, and the team will forfeit five first-round picks in the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033 NBA drafts. Leonard has been fined $700,000, payable to the NBA, and the league is also suspending Ballmer, the team's owner, from all league activities for one year.
According to the release,
The NBA and National Basketball Players Association "have entered into an agreement confirming these penalties are final and binding on all parties." Essentially, this signifies that both parties agreed to not appeal the decision.
This comes after a recent ESPN report indicated that the league's investigation had found no evidence linking Ballmer to the alleged scheme. The NBA pushed back against that report, citing "significant inaccuracies."
The NBA had contracted the New York-based firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz – which it has used in the past for other investigations – to lead the inquiry. Over the past several weeks, the NBA had been discussing the findings of the investigation with the involved parties.
Additionally, the NBA said Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker has been suspended one year without pay for being the primary contact to arrange the endorsement deals and for "providing false and misleading statements to investigators."
Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank will be suspended six months without pay for his involvement in the matter and for "approving impermissible expenses incurred by Mr. Leonard and his family."
The Clippers will also be subject to a compliance and monitoring program overseen by the NBA league office for five years.
The Clippers and Raptors had agreed June 30 to a deal that would to send Leonard to the Raptors, but both franchises each released statements July 9, indicating that the execution of the trade was being delayed until the investigation had concluded. Both teams also acknowledged that the NBA contacted each party and said the trade "can only be finalized if the Raptors' ownership group assumes the risk of penalties related to Kawhi’s contract that could theoretically result from the ongoing investigation."
With that in mind, the Raptors said they would wait until the conclusion of the investigation. Now that it's wrapped up, Toronto will need to determine how to move forward with Leonard's suspension looming after acquiring him in a win-now move.
This also signals a steep rebuke for Ballmer and the Clippers and marks their second such violation since he took over the franchise in 2014. Essentially, the ruling presents a significant blow to Los Angeles in a direct rejection of the franchise's account of the event.
"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 Wednesday in a statement. "I am 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 Clippers had previously denied the allegations, calling them "absurd."
The Clippers have undergone a youth movement as the team continues its rebuild. In February, the team traded James Harden to the Cavaliers and, in a different deal, Ivica Zubac to the Pacers. The Leonard deal earlier this summer signaled a desire to build for the future. Los Angeles finished ninth in the Western Conference with a 42-40 record and lost in the Play-In Tournament to miss the postseason.
In exchange for Leonard, the Clippers are set to receive Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round picks, one pick swap and two second-round picks.
What led to investigation of Clippers, Kawhi Leonard
Sports reporter Pablo Torre of "Pablo Torre Finds Out" hosted an episode of his show that published Sept. 3, 2025, in which he outlined the allegations. At the center of the case was the now-bankrupt "green" financial services company called Aspiration.
Torre uncovered thousands of pages of legal documents, including a contract signed by Leonard for $28 million over a four-year term to market and endorse Aspiration, which previously received a significant investment from Ballmer.
In the contract, a clause states that KL2 Aspire LLC, a company managed by Leonard, could "decline to proceed with any action desired by the Company," which set up a framework for Leonard to potentially receive payments without performing any work. Another clause states that Leonard would receive payments only if he continued to be a player on the Clippers.
Then, on Sept. 11, Torre reported that a December 2022 payment of $1.75 million to Leonard that had been running late, was made just nine days after a company led by Clippers minority owner Dennis Wong invested in Aspiration.
Silver publicly addressed the allegations against the Clippers in September 2025 and said he had "very broad power" to levy any penalties against the franchise, though he stressed that the league would exercise caution during the investigation.
"In the case of the league, we and our investigators look at the totality of the evidence," Silver said then. "Whether mere appearance – just by the way the words read, as a matter of fundamental fairness – I would be reluctant to act if there was a mere appearance of impropriety. I think the goal of the investigation is to find out if there was impropriety."
Back in August 2015 – a year after Ballmer’s purchase of the team was finalized – the NBA fined the Clippers $250,000 for "violating NBA rules prohibiting teams from offering players unauthorized business or investment opportunities" in their pursuit of then-free agent center DeAndre Jordan.
Aspiration had struck an agreement to be a team sponsor of the Clippers from 2021-23. Aspiration filed for bankruptcy in March 2025, and the company is facing a federal fraud probe.
Co-founder Joseph Sanberg was charged in early August 2025 and pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, the Department of Justice said. Per the DOJ, Sanberg defrauded investors of more than $248 million. On June 2, 2026, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA announces big penalties for Clippers, Steve Ballmer and Kawhi Leonard
