The NBA brings the hammer on the Los Angeles Clippers.
On Wednesday, it was announced that the Clippers had been stripped of five first-round draft picks, Ballmer was fined $30 million, and Ballmer, Lawrence Frank, and Gillian Zucker were suspended.
Leonard will pay $700,000 in restitution for improper benefits by the Clippers for his uncle and former business representative, Dennis Robertson. Robertson, who was fired by Leonard in June, is banned from all NBA business dealings.
There is no contract void or suspension for Leonard.
Further Details On Punishments
The Clippers will forfeit five first-round draft picks, one in each of the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033 NBA Drafts.
Ballmer is suspended from all league and team activities for one year for knowingly seeking to help Kawhi obtain off-court business income opportunities, for approving a business deal that he knew was a precondition for Aspiration to enter into an endorsement agreement with Mr. Leonard, and for his failure to create conditions under which his organization abided by the NBA’s circumvention rules.
Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker is suspended without pay for one year for being primarily and directly culpable for the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for providing false and misleading statements to investigators.
Clippers President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank is suspended without pay for six months for his involvement with the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for approving impermissible expenses incurred by Kawhi and his family.
The Clippers organization and personnel are subject to a compliance and monitoring program overseen by the league office for a period of five years.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver stated, "The NBA’s collectively bargained system for determining player compensation is a fundamental component of the basketball competition that the league oversees for the benefit of the teams and players and ultimately the fans. I am deeply disappointed by the flagrant violations of our rules and by the Clippers’ institutional and leadership failures that led to this misconduct. The severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations."
The Investigation
In September 2025, the NBA launched an investigation into the Clippers and Kawhi over allegations of a "no-show" endorsement deal with Aspiration. Under the deal, Leonard was allegedly paid under the table, and Ballmer was an investor in Aspiration.
In an interview with ESPN in September, after the allegations came out, Ballmer claimed he had no knowledge of the terms of the contract Leonard signed with Aspiration and said Aspiration defrauded him.
He claimed the team had introduced Leonard to Aspiration after signing a $300 million sponsorship agreement with the company, but had no further involvement in any endorsement deals the parties signed. Ballmer's sponsorship agreement with Aspiration is allowed under NBA rules.
The investigation stemmed from a report by Pablo Torre, alleging that Leonard accepted a $28 million no-show contract with Aspiration.
In June, Joe Sanberg, the co-founder of Aspiration, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for a five-year scheme to defraud multiple lenders and investors of at least $248 million.
The Clippers agreed to trade Leonard to the Toronto Raptors in July, but the deal was put on hold due to the investigation with the league syaing that the Raptors would assume any responsibility and punishment for Leonard in terms of a contract void or suspension.
