Advertise with Aurax News — Reach a Global Audience Today.
NBA Punishes Clippers Over Kawhi Leonard Salary Cap Case
By Aurax Desk | September 3, 2026 | 2 min read
The NBA has fined the Los Angeles Clippers $30 million and taken away five future first-round draft picks after an investigation found violations of the league’s salary cap rules involving Kawhi Leonard. Owner Steve Ballmer and several team officials also face suspensions, while Leonard was fined $700,000.
Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer watches an NBA game from the sideline.
The NBA announced Wednesday that the Clippers must forfeit first-round selections in the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033 drafts and undergo five years of league-supervised compliance monitoring. The penalties followed an investigation by outside law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz into whether the team helped Leonard obtain off-court income in ways that violated the collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association. The league said investigators found that the Clippers helped arrange endorsement opportunities involving Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics and Lockton Insurance, while also facilitating certain personal expenses for Leonard and his representatives.
The investigation began in September 2025 after questions were raised about a $28 million endorsement agreement between Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC, a company that later filed for bankruptcy. The NBA said the Clippers violated its rules by initiating and facilitating business relationships between Leonard and companies that did business with the team, including arrangements in which team business was offered as an incentive for endorsement agreements. The league also found that Leonard, through his former business manager Dennis Robertson, sought the assistance of the Clippers in obtaining off-court income and failed to reimburse certain personal expenses paid by the team.
Ballmer was suspended from all NBA and team activities for one year, while Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker received a one-year suspension without pay and President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank was suspended for six months without pay. Robertson was barred from conducting business with NBA teams and affiliates for five years, and Leonard was ordered to pay $700,000. The Clippers have rejected the league's findings and said they intend to challenge the decision through arbitration, but the NBA and players' union have agreed that the penalties are final and binding.
Sources: The Associated Press, NBA and Reuters.