Steve Ballmer has shut the door on a public showdown with the NBA.
The Clippers owner told the league the team will accept its salary-cap circumvention penalties and will not move forward with legal action, ending a fight that had been building toward a possible lawsuit. The franchise has already paid the $30 million fine.
“We are committing to put this chapter behind us,” Ballmer said in a statement.
He also apologized to Clippers fans, employees and his fellow NBA owners, saying he takes responsibility for the distraction as the organization’s principal owner. Ballmer said there are still disagreements about the league’s findings, but he no longer wants that to be the focus.
“Team owners should support, not distract,” Ballmer said.
The shift is a major one. The Clippers had originally condemned the NBA’s investigation as biased and said they would challenge the findings through every available avenue. A lawsuit, and even a restraining order against the league, were reportedly being considered.
Now Ballmer is paying the penalties and moving on.
Those penalties are steep. In addition to the fine, the NBA took away five first-round picks, suspended Ballmer for one year, and issued lengthy suspensions to executives Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker. The team also faces a five-year compliance and monitoring program.
That may close the book on the Clippers’ threatened battle with the league, but it does not end the other investigation hanging over the franchise.
Prosecutors in Brooklyn have opened a criminal inquiry into the Clippers’ dealings involving Kawhi Leonard, and at least one subpoena has reportedly been issued.
Ballmer can decide he is done fighting the NBA. He does not get to decide whether the federal government is done asking questions.
In Other News...
Clippers Finally End A Damaging Saga With Serious Fallout Ahead
The Clippers have finally reached the point where the off-court drama has turned into a settled punishment, with the NBAs investigation into salary cap circumvention now producing real consequences for the franchise. Along with the leagues ruling, team owner Steve Ballmer issued a statement apologizing for how the matter unfolded and stressing his commitment to the organizations future, a notable step after a stretch of uncertainty that had lingered over the club.
What comes next is the part the Clippers cant avoid: the fallout will touch both the front office and the team-building pipeline, with discipline handed down across multiple levels of the organization. Ballmers statement suggested a desire to move on, even as he acknowledged disagreement with parts of the leagues findings, but the larger question is how much damage this episode leaves behind and how quickly the Clippers can put it in the rearview mirror. [Read more 🡒]
Clippers Face Serious New Kawhi Spotlight With Much Bigger Stakes
The Clippers are already dealing with the kind of outside noise that can hang over a franchise for a long time, and the latest development raises the stakes well beyond a standard league review. Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York have opened a criminal inquiry into the club over allegations tied to endorsement arrangements involving Kawhi Leonard, turning a familiar basketball controversy into something far more serious for a team that has spent years trying to build around him.
Unlike an NBA probe, a federal investigation brings a different level of reach, with the government able to compel evidence and testimony in ways the league cannot. It also means the consequences could stretch well beyond fines or public embarrassment if the Clippers do not cooperate, making this a story with legal and organizational implications that could linger well into the season. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Just Became Part Of A Brutal NBA Warning Story
The Clippers have spent years trying to build their own identity in Los Angeles, but the larger shadow has never really gone away. On a recent discussion, NBA insiders Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon tied that dynamic to another cross-town rivalry, comparing the Clippers battle for relevance with the Lakers to the Nets place opposite the Knicks, and suggesting it has long shaped how the franchise has operated.
The bigger concern, as Joey Linn noted, is how that pressure can warp decision-making. The Clippers have already taken major swings in pursuit of a breakthrough, including the moves for Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, and the warning here is that an inferiority complex can lead a front office into territory it might not otherwise consider. For a team still trying to prove it can stand on its own in its own market, that is a problem with real consequences. [Read more 🡒]