The NBA on Wednesday suspended Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and fined the team $30 million for violating the salary cap rules.
Per ESPN: The NBA has ruled on the Los Angeles Clippers in for salary cap circumvention investigations on Kawhi Leonard after yearlong probe — stripping the franchise of 5 first-round picks, issuing a $30 million fine to owner Steve Ballmer and suspensions for Ballmer, Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker, sources tell ESPN.
Kawhi Leonard will have to pay $700,000 in restitution for improper benefits by the Clippers for his uncle and former business rep, Dennis Robertson. No contract void or suspension for Leonard. And Robertson — who was fired by Leonard in June — is being banned by the NBA from all business dealings.
BREAKING: The NBA has ruled on the Los Angeles Clippers in for salary cap circumvention investigations on Kawhi Leonard after yearlong probe — stripping the franchise of 5 first-round picks, issuing a $30 million fine to owner Steve Ballmer and suspensions for Ballmer, Lawrence… pic.twitter.com/JCV5bI88BE
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 2, 2026
CNBC reported:
The NBA on Wednesday said it had suspended Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer for one year as part of a broad array of sanctions on the basketball team and its two most senior executives for violating the league’s salary cap circumvention rules related to star player Kawhi Leonard and four companies that did business with the team.
Ballmer “knowingly” sought to help Leonard obtain off-court income opportunities” worth millions of dollars, and approved a business deal that Ballmer “knew was a precondition for Aspiration Partners to enter into an endorsement agreement with Mr. Leonard, and for his failure to create conditions under which his organization abided by the NBA’s circumvention rules,” the league said.
The Clippers were also fined $30 million, and will forfeit five first-round picks in the NBA draft, one each year beginning with the 2029 draft. The Clippers and its personnel will be subject to a compliance and monitoring program overseen by the league office for five years, according to the NBA.
Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker was suspended without pay for one year, and President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank was suspended without pay for six months. Zucker and Frank were “primarily and directly culpable” for this organization’s misconduct, an investigation found.
Steve Ballmer a year ago 😭
“We, the Clippers, have abided by the salary cap circumvention rules because that's the right thing to do. And we have done that.” pic.twitter.com/tInl38BK54
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) September 2, 2026
