The NBA on Wednesday suspended Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer for one year and hit the team with a $30 million fine, part of a sweeping set of sanctions for violating the league’s salary cap circumvention rules in connection with star player Kawhi Leonard.
According to the NBA, Leonard “violated the circumvention rules by pressuring the Clippers to assist him in obtaining off-court income opportunities, successfully obtaining those opportunities, and failing to reimburse payments by the Clippers for personal expenses.”
The league said Ballmer “knowingly” helped Leonard pursue those off-court income opportunities. Specifically, the NBA said Ballmer approved a business deal that he knew was a precondition for Aspiration—a financial services company—to enter into an endorsement agreement with Leonard. The league also cited Ballmer’s “failure to create conditions under which his organization abided by the NBA’s circumvention rules.”
Beyond the fine, the Clippers are set to forfeit five first-round draft picks—one in each of the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033 NBA Drafts—the league said.
The sanctions mark one of the harshest penalties the NBA has issued in recent memory, reflecting the league’s view that the violations went beyond isolated roster mismanagement and involved the owner’s direct participation.
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Source: www.cnbc.com — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/02/nba-suspends-clippers-ballmer-kawhi-leonard-salary-cap.html
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