NBA Insider Shares Harsh Reality for Clippers Owner Steve Ballmer

This offseason, one of the major ongoing storylines was the investigation surrounding the Los Angeles Clippers and the accusation of salary cap circumvention regarding Kawhi Leonard's contract. 

Just recently, the franchise was handed out multiple punishments, including being stripped of its first-round draft picks from 2029 to 2033, a one-year suspension for owner Steve Ballmer, and a six-month suspension for President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank. Kawhi Leonard, who was traded to the Toronto Raptors, was fined $700,000. 

This news comes at an inconvenient time for Los Angeles. This offseason, they traded away Leonard, who is their best player, in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, a 2027 first-round pick swap, and two second-round picks.  

This is a team that has a mix of young players and veteran pieces that will keep them competitive next season, but as of now, they do not have a piece to truly build around for the future.  

The investigation and the punishment were very detrimental to the team, and they could be detrimental to owner Steve Ballmer as well. ESPN's Brian Windhorst recently talked about the punishments handed out to Los Angeles and what it could mean for Steve Ballmer's reputation.  

"l think Steve Ballmer had support of his peers in this, even though this was pretty severe accusations. l think people wanted to believe him. And especially if they like him, and they did," Windhorst said.  

"So the word that was said to me by a very influential person was that some of the other owners were aghast when they read this report. That was the word that was used to me aghast. And regardless of what Steve Ballmer says now, the support he once had is no longer there."

While Steve Ballmer is not forced to sell his team after this investigation, other owners in the NBA may want him to do so. In fact, they could take a vote to make the sale happen, but there is no word on whether or not that will take place. 

Nonetheless, Ballmer may have lost the trust of his peers around the league, and it could hurt him in negotiations moving forward. 

Clippers fans are no strangers to controversy surrounding their team's owner. Former owner Donald Sterling was banned for life by the NBA on April 29, 2014, after a leaked audio recording of a private conversation consisted of him making racist remarks. 

Adam Silver then encouraged the NBA Board of Governors to force Sterling to sell the team; it was later sold to Steve Ballmer. It will be interesting to see how the Clippers come back from a situation like this and what's next for the franchise and Steve Ballmer.