The NBA Just Handed Out Its Harshest Punishment Ever. The Clippers Say They'll Fight It.

A year-long investigation. Five forfeited first-round draft picks. A $30 million fine. A team owner suspended for a full year. In the history of the NBA, no franchise has ever been hit this hard at once — and it all traces back to a bankrupt startup and a contract almost nobody noticed for three years.

In September 2025, investigative journalist Pablo Torre reported that Kawhi Leonard had a side deal with Aspiration, a now-bankrupt sustainability company: it would pay him roughly $28 million in cash between 2022 and 2025, seemingly for very little in return, while he played for the Los Angeles Clippers. The arrangement raised an obvious question — was this a legitimate endorsement, or a way to quietly pay a star player above what the salary cap allows?

After nearly a year of investigating, the league concluded it was cap circumvention. The punishments, announced this month, are the harshest in NBA history: Clippers owner Steve Ballmer suspended one year. The team fined $30 million. Five first-round draft picks forfeited. President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank banned six months. President of business operations Gillian Zucker suspended one year. Leonard himself was fined $700,000 but not suspended.

Notably, the league said it found no evidence Ballmer personally funneled money to Leonard through Aspiration — the suspension is about what the league says he knew and enabled, not a direct payment trail.

The team rejected the findings outright, calling the investigation "heavily biased" and accusing the league of "seeking to justify a predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence." Ballmer has vowed to challenge the punishment.

His options are limited. The players' union has already accepted the league's ruling as "final and binding on all parties," closing off the normal arbitration path. That leaves Ballmer with essentially one route left: suing in a court of law outside the NBA's own jurisdiction — a long, uncertain path against a league that just handed down its harshest penalty ever, over a case it spent a year building.

Five first-round picks is a franchise-altering loss — it strips years of a rebuild's foundation before a single one is used. Combined with a suspended owner and two banned executives, the Clippers head into the new season with their front office gutted and no fast way to undo it.