Clippers facing federal criminal probe after bombshell NBA findings

The Los Angeles Clippers’ salary-cap scandal just went from an NBA headache to a federal problem.

Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the franchise over allegations it circumvented the NBA’s salary cap involving star player Kawhi Leonard.

The probe comes just days after the NBA dropped a staggering punishment on the Clippers, fining the team $30 million, suspending owner Steve Ballmer for one year and stripping the franchise of five first-round draft picks.

Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and Kawhi Leonard received different punishments for the Clippers’ circumventing the league’s salary cap. Getty Images

President of business operations Gillian Zucker (one year) and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank (six months) were also suspended for their role in the scandal.

Advertisement

It wasn’t clear as of Thursday what possible crimes federal prosecutors are investigating, or which people are the target of the federal inquiry.

It also wasn’t clear whether criminal charges would come from the investigation.

Spokespeople for the Clippers and the NBA didn’t respond to messages from The California Post on Thursday asking about the investigation.

“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,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement after the Clippers’ punishments were announced. “I am deeply disappointed by the flagrant violations of our rules and by the Clippers’ institutional and leadership failures that led to this misconduct. The severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations.”

Advertisement

The Clippers aren’t taking the league’s punishment lying down.

The team said in a statement last week that it intends to “vigorously challenge” the NBA’s findings and penalties.

Kawhi Leonard in action against the Sacramento Kings at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, on Dec. 30, 2025. Getty Images

“We vehemently reject the NBA’s findings, which are the result of a heavily biased…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/clippers-facing-federal-criminal-probe-004637232.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-09-11 00:46:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.