Clippers owner Steve Ballmer will not fight the NBA. In a statement posted late Sunday, September 13, Ballmer said the team would comply with the league's penalties in its salary cap circumvention case involving Kawhi Leonard, and that the franchise had already paid its $30 million fine, ESPN reported.
The statement was Ballmer's first public comment since the league announced the punishment earlier this month. "This has been a very difficult time for everybody associated with the Clippers, and for that, I have sincere regrets," Ballmer said. "While there are still disagreements concerning the findings in the report, this is not where I want to focus." He added: "Team owners should support, not distract."
What the NBA handed down
The NBA's penalties:
- A $30 million fine against the Clippers, which Ballmer said has been paid.
- A one-year suspension for Ballmer.
- Forfeiture of five first-round draft picks: 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033.
- A $700,000 fine for Leonard, with no suspension.
The NBA said it found "a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers organization, a prior offender of the salary cap circumvention rules," per ESPN.
The Aspiration deal at the center of the case
The investigation focused on a $28 million endorsement contract between Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC, the Boston Globe reported. The league alleged that Ballmer knowingly sought off-court income deals for Leonard and approved business arrangements that were preconditions for Aspiration's endorsement contract. Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg has since been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for defrauding investors and lenders of at least $248 million.
Uristocrat tracked the probe as it moved through its fact-finding phase in July, when it also put Leonard's pending trade to Toronto on hold. The Clippers case landed the same summer the league opened a separate circumvention review into Gary Trent Jr.'s $64 million Bucks contract.
From "witch hunt" to compliance
When the penalties first came down, the Clippers said they would challenge the findings "through every avenue available to us." Ballmer's attorney, David Kelley, sent a letter to Commissioner Adam Silver calling the investigation "a witch hunt" and the penalties a "gross injustice." Ballmer's new statement also apologized to Clippers fans, employees and fellow owners, and said, "The confidence of our fans is our priority."
Source: ESPN, The Boston Globe
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