The NBA concluded its investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers regarding allegations of salary cap circumvention with Kawhi Leonard, with commissioner Adam Silver handing down one of the largest penalties in NBA history. The Clippers, owner Steve Ballmer and several other names, including Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker, received discipline from the league. While Ballmer was given a $30 million fine and a year-long suspension, and Frank and Zucker were also suspended, Leonard quickly became a hot-button topic.
Leonard has been required by the league to repay $700,000 in restitution for "improper benefits by the Clippers for his uncle and former business rep, Dennis Robertson," as first reported by ESPN's Shams Charania. His contract remains
intact, and he did not receive a suspension. However, that doesn't mean there hasn't been strong pushback from some about that decision.
Among those who spoke out on the topic recently was ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, who unloaded on Leonard and the Clippers during a recent First Takesegment, as Awful Announcing highlighted. Smith went so far as to bluntly state that, after seeing the punishments handed down by the NBA, he doesn't want the Clippers to trade Leonard to the Toronto Raptors, a deal agreed upon before the investigation wrapped up.
Smith openly stated that he'd make Leonard "stay right there in L.A.," and "suffer the consequences with this team."
"Based on that statement from Kawhi Leonard alone, I would null and void the trade," Smith said. "You ain't going to Toronto, your ass gonna stay right there in L.A. and you're gonna suffer the consequences with this team. Five [draft] picks and you get two back? Nah, you ain't getting two back. And you're gonna stay in L.A. ... You're gonna stay with the Los Angeles Clippers, for now anyway, you ain't getting this trade...
Smith took it one step further, saying that Leonard's statement on the topic, issued through his new agent, should make Silver feel as though he wasn't "harsh enough" in his punishment.
"If I'm Adam Silver, I'd look at that statement and be like, 'You know something, I don't think I've been harsh enough.' This is disgraceful, it really, really is," Smith added.
"I would null and void the trade. You ain't going to Toronto. Your ass is gonna stay right there in L.A. and you're gonna suffer the consequences with this team." - Stephen A. Smith on Kawhi Leonard https://t.co/RbXUuKZnwV pic.twitter.com/kSRWxY0RPj
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 3, 2026
Smith is obviously not a fan of the final punishment the league handed down to Leonard. And apparently, believes the Clippers should essentially take their own action, and do so by altering course on the initial trade to send Leonard back to the Toronto Raptors.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Stephen A. Smith demands Clippers void Kawhi Leonard trade: 'You ain't going to Toronto'
