The NBA fined the Los Angeles Clippers $30 million and stripped away five first-round draft picks to punish the franchise for violating salary cap circumvention rules involving star forward Kawhi Leonard, who was ordered to pay $700,000, the league announced Wednesday, September 2 (Thursday, September 3, Manila time).
The NBA’s investigation, conducted independently over the course of a year, “found a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers organization, a prior offender of the salary cap circumvention rules,” the league said in a statement.
The heart of the issue was the team introducing Leonard to club sponsors for off-court income opportunities and endorsement agreements, offering the companies business from the team as inducements and paying personal expenses for Leonard and his representatives, among other violations.
The businesses identified were Boingo Wireless, Daktronics, and Lockton Insurance and Aspiration Partners, the latter a financial technology firm that went bankrupt last year. Aspiration allegedly signed Leonard to a $28 million endorsement deal and had a 23-year, $300 million sponsorship deal with the Clippers.
The Clippers must forfeit a first-round pick in each draft from 2029 to 2033. Leonard, 35, has been fined $700,000, while several Clippers executives have been suspended.
