The NBA reached a settlement with Kawhi Leonard and the Players Association after Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer reportedly refused to admit wrongdoing and chose to fight the league’s investigation.
Speaking on the Dan Patrick Show on Thursday, September 3, Pabo Torre described the sequence of events surrounding the NBA’s investigation and the eventual punishment handed down to the Clippers and Leonard.
“When the NBA tried to settle with Steve Ballmer, and they said, ‘Hey we have a narrow scope, we have undeniable evidence, we want to just make sure that you have the opportunity to take your punishment, admit wrongdoing, and let us all move on.’ Steve Ballmer — according to everything that we’ve seen now play out in public after that ESPN story two weeks ago — decided to fight,” Torre said, per New York Post.
“And the NBA said, well in that case, we’re going to do something that perhaps caught Steve Ballmer by surprise. They found a way to settle with Kawhi Leonard and the Players’ Union…They got Kawhi to settle.”
The NBA announced Wednesday that the Clippers and Leonard violated the league’s salary-cap circumvention rules following an independent investigation conducted by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
The league found that the Clippers initiated and facilitated off-court income opportunities between Leonard and four companies doing business with the organization: Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics and Lockton Insurance.
According to the NBA, the Clippers also induced companies to enter endorsement agreements with Leonard by offering team business, while the organization paid personal expenses for Leonard and his representatives.
Leonard was fined $700,000, while his former business manager Dennis Robertson received a five-year ban from conducting business or engaging with NBA teams and affiliates on behalf of players, employees or other league personnel.
The Clippers received significantly harsher sanctions, forfeiting their first-round picks in the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033 NBA Drafts and paying a $30 million fine. Ballmer was suspended from all league and team activities for one year, while Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker received a one-year unpaid suspension and President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank was suspended for six months without pay.
Leonard subsequently addressed the investigation, accepting responsibility for lapses in judgment involving people in his inner circle while maintaining that he had no knowledge of an effort to circumvent the salary cap.
“Integrity and respect for this game are fundamental to who I am. I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle and regret the distraction this situation has caused the fans and my family,” Leonard wrote.
He added that he entered his Clippers contract and the agreements in question “in good faith,” while saying he had “no knowledge of any intent on anyone’s part to circumvent the salary cap.”
The Clippers have disputed the NBA’s findings and argued that the investigation failed to meet standards of due process and fairness. The organization said Ballmer spent nearly $50 million on the investigation, produced more than 30,000 documents and made more than 20 witnesses available for interviews.
The franchise has said it is exploring legal remedies despite the NBA and NBPA agreement making the announced penalties final and binding.
The controversy arrives as Leonard begins a new chapter with the Toronto Raptors. Los Angeles traded him to Toronto during the offseason, ending a seven-year Clippers tenure that included a 42-40 record and ninth-place finish in the Western Conference during the 2025-26 season.
Leonard was still an elite performer before the trade, averaging 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 65 games while shooting 50.5% from the field, 38.7% from three-point range and 89.2% from the free-throw line. He earned All-NBA Second Team honors, made the All-Star team and finished seventh in MVP voting.
