The NBA has suspended Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer for one year as part of a broad set of penalties against the team for circumventing salary cap rules related to star player Kawhi Leonard. The Clippers were fined a record $30 million and must forfeit five first-round draft picks from 2029 to 2033. In addition, Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker received a one-year unpaid suspension, while President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank was suspended without pay for six months. The organization will also undergo a league-supervised compliance and monitoring program for five years.

The investigation, conducted by law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, uncovered multiple serious violations, including facilitating off-court income deals between Leonard and four companies affiliated with the team—Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics, and Lockton Insurance. Ballmer was found to have knowingly approved a business deal important to Leonard’s endorsement agreements, pressuring the Clippers to assist Leonard’s business interests illegally. Leonard himself was fined $700,000 for breaches tied to the conduct of his business manager and uncle Dennis Robertson, who was also banned from NBA-related activities for five years.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed strong disappointment in the Clippers’ misconduct and the leadership failures that led to these violations, emphasizing the importance of the league’s salary cap system. Leonard acknowledged mistakes by people close to him but stated he entered the contracts in good faith without intent to break salary rules. The penalties highlight the league’s commitment to uphold fairness and competitive balance, following a detailed report revealing repeated Clippers rule-breaking patterns and misleading statements during the investigation.

The Clippers have vehemently denied the NBA’s findings and announced plans to challenge the sanctions through arbitration, arguing the investigation was biased and unjust. This development follows last year’s podcast allegations about undisclosed endorsement deals connected to the now-defunct green energy firm Aspiration Partners. With the probe concluding, a pending trade sending Leonard back to the Toronto Raptors is now more likely to move forward, allowing both parties to put the controversy behind them.