When Commissioner Adam Silver and the NBA brought the hammer down on the Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer, his first inclination was to fight. The Clippers quickly issued a defiant statement, then sent a two-page letter to the league saying they would look at their options for challenging the league’s decision.
Upon reflection and looking at those options, Ballmer released a statement Sunday night saying he and the Clippers would comply with the NBA’s punishments. He also apologized to Clippers’ fans. Here is the statement in full:
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“This has been a very difficult time for everybody associated with the Clippers, and for that, I have sincere regrets. I want to apologize to our fans, employees, and my fellow NBA team owners for the distraction and distress this matter has caused, for which I accept responsibility as principal owner.
“We are committing to put this chapter behind us. We have communicated to the NBA that we are complying with the penalties assessed by the league, have paid the fine, and are moving forward. While there are still disagreements concerning the findings in the report, this is not where I want to focus. Team owners should support, not distract.
“The challenges ahead of us are significant, but so is our resolve. We will continue to build our team and invest in our community. The confidence of our fans is our priority. With our talented roster, outstanding staff and clear vision, I am certain that we will compete at the highest level and be an organization our fans can be proud of.”
The punishments handed down by Silver and the league came following a year-long investigation that uncovered four instances of the Clippers using their leverage to get team sponsors or business partners to give “no-show” endorsement contracts to star Kawhi Leonard, circumventing the salary cap. Those punishments were the stiffest handed down in league history and include:
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• The Clippers surrender five first-round draft picks (2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033).
• The Clippers are fined $30 million (which Ballmer said he has now paid).
• Ballmer is suspended from anything to do with the team or the league for one year.
• Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker is suspended for one year, while President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank is suspended for six months.
• Kawhi Leonard must pay a $700,000 fine.
• Leonard’s already-fired business manager, Dennis Robertson (better known as “Uncle Dennis”), is banned from conducting NBA business for five years.
This does not mean the drama is over for the Clippers. The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the Clippers’ dealings in this case, and that investigation is just beginning (but it would have to show the Clippers broke an actual law, not just NBA bylaws). Also, the Securities and Exchange Commission has opened its own investigation into Daktronics, one of the companies that gave Leonard a questionable endorsement deal. Daktronics is a publicly traded company, and part of the SEC’s mission is protecting shareholders.
Ballmer’s announcement means the Clippers will soon appoint an interim governor and head of basketball operations. With that, the trade of Leonard to the Toronto Raptors, agreed to at the start of free agency (months before the punishments were handed down), should go through and become official soon.
It’s also worth noting that the only other team that got five first-round draft picks taken away for circumventing the salary cap — the Timberwolves in the Joe Smith case 26 years ago — eventually got two picks back because they complied with the penalties. It was essentially time off for good behavior, and likely factors into Ballmer’s thinking.
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Ultimately, Ballmer didn’t have a good avenue to challenge the league’s decision, for a couple of reasons.
First, Leonard gets off with a slap on the wrist for his role in this, but that was the price of getting him and the players’ union on board with the punishment. Through the union, Leonard could have forced this to arbitration, which would have opened the entire case to a neutral third party and given Ballmer and the Clippers someone to argue their case before. However, under the CBA, only the player and the union can take the case to arbitration. With them on board and agreeing, that avenue for the Clippers to fight was off the table.
That ties into the second reason: Ballmer’s only other option was to file a lawsuit and take this to state or federal courts, but that was a massive uphill battle. As attorney, sports law professor and journalist Michael McCann put it on the Zach Lowe Show, when Ballmer bought the Clippers, he was essentially joining a country club. That club (the NBA) has the right to enforce whatever its internal rules are in its bylaws (as long as those don’t violate actual law). The punishments to Ballmer and the Clippers are within that jurisdiction. Getting a court to come in over the top of the league and inject itself into this case would have been nearly impossible.
Ballmer ultimately played the hand he was dealt, as distasteful as this might be to him.
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