The Clippers were fined $30 million by the NBA and stripped of their first-round picks for five years.

The NBA has officially issued the heaviest fine in league history to the Los Angeles Clippers. The team was fined a staggering $30 million for assisting star player Kawhi Leonard in generating millions of dollars in off-court commercial revenue, effectively exceeding the salary cap.

In addition to economic sanctions, the Clippers were also ordered to strip themselves of all five first-round draft picks between 2029 and 2033, and the team and management must undergo strict compliance review by the league for the next five years.

The management involved also faced accountability measures. Team owner Steve Ballmer was banned from participating in any league or team affairs for 12 months due to his deep involvement in sponsorship operations.

Gillian Zucker, the president of business operations, was suspended without pay for a year for making false and misleading statements during the investigation. Leonard, the other party involved, was fined $700,000.

An NBA investigation revealed that the Clippers deliberately and repeatedly engaged in serious salary evasion, and that Kawhi Leonard had previously pressured management to solicit off-court benefits. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver emphasized that severe sanctions were a necessary response to this blatant violation of fair competition.

After the ruling, 35-year-old Leonard publicly apologized, saying he was willing to take responsibility for the incident. However, he also insisted that he signed the contract entirely out of good faith and was completely unaware of any illegal operation to circumvent the salary cap.

Kawhi Leonard joined the Clippers in 2019 and left the team earlier this year after seven years. This major scandal involving a top star and billions of dollars has set a precedent for the harshest penalties ever imposed by the NBA on illegal player acquisitions.

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