LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer are considering a lawsuit against the NBA that would ask a judge to issue a restraining order over the penalties the league handed down in the Kawhi Leonard salary cap case, The New York Times reported Thursday.
The Clippers and Ballmer have not settled on a response to the punishments, according to two people briefed on the matter who spoke with Times reporters Michael S. Schmidt, William K. Rashbaum, and Santul Nerkar. The same report said federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have opened a criminal investigation into the team’s dealings with Leonard. Prosecutors have issued at least one subpoena, the Times reported. Spokesmen for the Clippers and the NBA did not respond to the newspaper’s questions about the federal inquiry.
On Sept. 2, the NBA announced that the Clippers would forfeit five first-round draft picks, one in each draft from 2029 through 2033, and pay a $30 million fine. Ballmer was suspended from all league and team activities for one year. The league said the suspension was for “knowingly seeking to help Mr. Leonard obtain off-court income opportunities,” for approving a business deal he knew was a precondition for Aspiration’s endorsement agreement with Leonard, and for failing to create conditions under which his organization followed the circumvention rules.
Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker was suspended without pay for one year. President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank was suspended without pay for six months. For five years, the organization will be subject to a compliance and monitoring program overseen by the league office. Under an agreement between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association, the penalties are final and binding on all parties, according to the league’s announcement.
The Clippers said Sept. 2 that they would challenge the findings and penalties through every avenue available to them, and that they looked forward to “an ethical and impartial arbitration process.”
“We vehemently reject the NBA’s findings, which are the result of a heavily biased investigation seeking to justify a predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence,” the Clippers said in a statement. “What the league told us privately differs from what it announced today publicly, and they have not held themselves close to the standard Commissioner Silver set at the start of this investigation to ensure its fairness and accuracy.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he was deeply disappointed by the flagrant violations of league rules and by the Clippers’ institutional and leadership failures.
“The NBA’s collectively bargained system for determining player compensation is a fundamental component of the basketball competition that the league oversees for the benefit of the teams and players and ultimately the fans,” Silver said.
David Kelley Letter Called Probe ‘Witch Hunt’
Ballmer’s attorney, David Kelley, sent Silver a letter that the Clippers released Sept. 2, The Associated Press reported. Kelley, a partner at O’Melveny & Myers, called the investigation “a witch hunt” and said Silver had not kept his promises that the burden would be on the league to prove any violation through evidence.
“We are exploring every legal remedy to address this gross injustice,” Kelley wrote.
Kelley objected in April after David Anders, the Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz attorney and former federal prosecutor leading the NBA’s investigation, wrote to the judge set to sentence Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg, Sportico reported. Anders wrote that Sanberg had given investigators information relevant to their work. Earlier this year, Sanberg was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to defrauding investors and lenders of at least $248 million.
Pablo Torre first reported Leonard’s four-year, $28 million endorsement deal with Aspiration on Sept. 3, 2025. Ballmer had backed the company with $50 million.
In April 2014, Silver banned then-Clippers owner Donald Sterling from the NBA for life and fined him $2.5 million. Ballmer bought the franchise for $2 billion that August.
Kawhi Leonard Trade To Toronto Raptors Still Pending
The Clippers agreed June 30 to trade Leonard to the Toronto Raptors for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, a 2027 first-round pick swap, and second-round picks in 2030 and 2033, according to NBA.com. The deal was put on hold July 9, pending the end of the NBA investigation.
Citing multiple league sources, The Athletic reported Tuesday that the Clippers have pointed to the impact of the league’s discipline on their front-office structure as the reason for the delay. Leonard has been with Raptors players in Miami this week in an unofficial capacity, according to The Athletic.
Last season, Leonard averaged 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 65 games. He has one year left on his contract. The trade had not been completed as of Thursday.
