LA Clippers hit with a record $30m fine over the Kawhi Leonard pay scandal

How the LA Clippers case unravelled

The franchise will also forfeit five first-round draft picks between 2029 and 2033, in addition to the fine.

Owner Steve Ballmer is suspended from all league and team activities for 12 months over his role in Leonard's sponsorship contracts.

Leonard on the other hand has been fined $700,000 (£520,000), in a somewhat underwhelming penalty for the star player.

Podcast journalist Pablo Torre reported that a $28m (£20.8m) endorsement contract between Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC could have broken league rules, leading to an investigation that opened in September 2025.

League wide cap rules endorse teams to spread out player paychecks throughout the entire lineup, unlike football, where a £30m midfield transfer or an £86m move for a teenager passes without penalty. 

The penalties were detailed by BBC Sport's Keifer MacDonald.

The NBA report said Leonard had pressured the Clippers into "obtaining off-court income opportunities," leading Ballmer to sign Kawhi on a multimillion contract for a job that didn't exist, on top of his NBA contract.

Business operations president Gillian Zucker will go for a year without pay for giving "misleading statements to investigators."

The league said its month-long investigation "found a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers organisation, a prior offender of the salary-cap circumvention rules."

Commissioner Adam Silver also said that he was "deeply disappointed" by the "flagrant violations" committed by the LA based franchise.

Leonard said he "accepts full responsibility" and "regrets the distraction this situation has caused the fans and my family."

Writing on Instagram, he claimed that he entered the agreements "in good faith" with "no knowledge of any intent... to circumvent the salary cap."

The two-time Finals MVP joined in 2019 and left this year for the Toronto Raptors, where he previously won a Championship right before moving to the Intuit Dome.

The Clippers say they will appeal, calling the fine a "witch hunt."