INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Clippers publicly mourned their losses while committing to move forward on Monday, nearly a month after the NBA slapped the franchise with the harshest set of penalties its ever levied against a team.
A year-long investigation into violating salary cap circumvention rules involving Kawhi Leonard resulted in owner Steve Ballmer being banned for a year, the team being fined $30 million and forced to forfeit five
first-round draft picks, and Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations, being suspended for six months.
Coach Tyronn Lue and a starless roster of veterans and youngsters are left to pick up the pieces.
“Ty and I are going to miss L and Steve immensely,” said Trent Redden, the team's general manager who is replacing Frank on an interim basis. “It will be a challenge without them.”
Leonard has moved on, too, getting traded to the Toronto Raptors, where he won an NBA title in 2019, after being fined $700,000.
Future Hall of Famers Paul George, James Harden and Chris Paul are gone, as well as franchise stalwart Ivica Zubac.
Redden apologized to the fan base for the team's silence since the penalties were announced by the league on Sept. 2. Ballmer's statement on Sept. 13 had been the only comment from the organization.
“We’ve been listening, though, not just being quiet,” Redden said, “but listening to the thoughts, the concerns and feeling the emotions of our fan base. They mean everything to us. Their pain through this time is real. We feel it and we hear them, as well as our staff members who are proud to be part of this organization. We hope to fulfill our promises to them to build their trust and move forward through this time.”
The Clippers have had 15 consecutive winning seasons, finishing 42-40 last season to extend their league-record streak.
To keep it going, they'll be relying on veterans Bradley Beal, Kris Dunn, Brook Lopez, Darius Garland and Brandon Ingram, who won't be ready to start the season while recovering from heel surgery and a partially torn Achilles tendon. As well as youngsters Gradey Dick, Cam Christie, Jordan Miller and rookies Keaton Wagler and Baba Miller.
"This franchise often has done its best work with its back against the wall,” Redden said. “We hope to represent our fans the same way we always had in dark times, by coming out fighting.”
Lue enters his seventh season at the helm, having made the playoffs in four of his first six years, including the franchise's first Western Conference Finals appearance in 2021.
He won’t have Ballmer visiting him in the locker room every game just before tipoff.
“Mr. Ballmer has been tremendous to me, to my family. My loyalty to him is to the end,” Lue said. "I definitely want to be here, I definitely want to go through this challenge. We've been through challenges before and so this isn't any different. We're going to approach it the same way."
The team opens training camp in Hawaii on Tuesday, returning to the islands for the first time in two years. They’ll play their first preseason game on Sunday against Golden State in Honolulu.
The Clippers open the season at Intuit Dome on Oct. 21 against Sacramento.
“I know there’s little to no expectations for us this year,” said Ingram, who arrived via the Leonard trade. “We have enough in the building to compete. We go out and compete every single night and learn and move on to the next game, and get better and better.”
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