NBA penalties hit Clippers in Kawhi Leonard probe: Ballmer suspended for a year and five first-round picks docked

The NBA fined the Los Angeles Clippers $30 million, suspended owner Steve Ballmer for one year, and stripped the team of five first-round picks after concluding the franchise circumvented salary-cap rules by arranging off-court income opportunities and endorsements for Kawhi Leonard. Leonard must repay $700,000; his uncle Dennis Robertson was banned from NBA activities for five years. Clippers executives Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker were also suspended (six months and one year, respectively), with league monitoring of the team for five years to ensure compliance.