NBA News

Facing a mountain of evidence, the NBA had to bring the hammer down hard on Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and the Clippers in the salary cap circumvention case involving Kawhi Leonard and former team sponsor Aspiration, among others. If not, 29 other team owners would have gotten the message that the price for circumventing the salary cap was worth it. …

The NBA has dropped the hammer on the Los Angeles Clippers. After a yearlong investigation into salary-cap circumvention involving Kawhi Leonard, the league is stripping the Clippers of five first-round picks and fining owner Steve Ballmer $30 million, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Advertisement Ballmer, general managers Lawrence Frank and president of business operations Gillian Zucker also received suspensions. Leonard …

NBA star Kawhi Leonard issued a statement on Wednesday, Sept. 2, after the league announced significant punishments for the Los Angeles Clippers and team owner Steve Ballmer. The NBA announced the Clippers circumvented the salary cap with its alleged facilitation of “no-show” endorsement deals for Leonard, their former star forward, the league announced after an 11-month investigation concluded. Here’s how the star …

The NBA dropped the hammer on the Los Angeles Clippers for violating the league’s salary cap circumvention rules by “initiating off-court income opportunities” for star forward Kawhi Leonard. The Clippers are forced to forfeit five first-round NBA Draft picks, are fined $30 million to owner Steve Ballmer, and both Ballmer, Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker, and President of Basketball Operations …

In the hunt to be the first American to end the Grand Slam drought, Frances Tiafoe is hoping to channel the Knicks’ championship energy while he’s in Flushing Meadows.  Tiafoe advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open, defeating Rei Sakamoto in three sets in front of noted celebrity Knicks fan Ben Stiller on Wednesday night, and was asked …

The Los Angeles Clippers are not going down easy after the NBA dropped the hammer on them Wednesday. The Clippers’ organization was stripped of five first-round NBA draft picks and was fined $30 million as a result of the NBA’s verdict that they violated the league’s salary cap circumvention rules by “initiating off-court income opportunities” for superstar forward Kawhi Leonard. Advertisement Los …

The Los Angeles Clippers “vehemently reject” the NBA’s findings that they circumvented the salary cap with their alleged facilitation of “no-show” endorsement deals for their former star forward Kawhi Leonard, the team said in a statement on Wednesday, Sept. 2. The Clippers’ statement came soon after the NBA announced significant punishments for the team, owner Steve Ballmer and Leonard following …

The Clippers received one of the harshest punishments in NBA history. Kawhi Leonard did not. Despite being found in violation of the same salary-cap rules, he escaped with comparatively little damage. Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard responds to questions during NBA Finals press conferences at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada, Sunday, June 9, 2019. EPA That contrast has become the …

Nearly a year to the day that Pablo Torre published his first episode reporting on the Kawhi Leonard cap circumvention saga with a company called Aspiration, the league has finally doled out punishment to both Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers certainly came away worse for wear than the All-NBA forward they signed back in 2019. Per Shams …

The Warriors’ search for another star alongside Stephen Curry has produced a growing collection of almosts. The latest name to add to the list is Jaren Jackson Jr. ESPN’s Anthony Slater revealed Golden State explored acquiring the former Defensive Player of the Year before Memphis traded him to Utah at February’s deadline. Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies celebrates …

The NBA’s $30 million penalty was aimed at the Clippers. The five missing first-round picks were a warning to every billionaire owner like Steve Ballmer. By hammering Los Angeles for circumventing the salary cap through off-court opportunities for Kawhi Leonard, the NBA did more than punish one franchise. It drew a boundary around one of the biggest advantages available to …

It’s time for our next category of Spurs villains. This time, we’re looking for your votes on Spurs haters. These are the people who have made it a priority to take a dig at the Silver and Black, on or off the court. Readers will vote for the biggest villain in a poll, and the winner of each match-up will advance …

With it being almost a week since the Cody Williams trade to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the dust has settled. But we haven’t really gotten a pulse on exactly how Jazz fans felt about it. That’s the center of the question for this week’s Utah Jazz Reacts survey. Did you feel like it was enough? Was it not enough? Was it …

In a decision we’ve been waiting nearly a year to hear, the NBA has finally ruled on the Los Angeles Clippers circumvention investigation. The case was originally uncovered by Pablo Torre and centered on Kawhi Leonard and Aspiration, a company that allegedly paid Leonard to serve as an ambassador while potentially functioning as a mechanism to provide him additional compensation …

A day short of a full year since Pablo Torre unearthed evidence that the Los Angeles Clippers under owner Steve Ballmer circumvented the NBA’s salary cap in their dealings with star forward Kawhi Leonard, the league released the findings of its own investigation into the franchise and Leonard. The 35-page report from the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & …

The San Antonio Spurs have officially announced DAZN as their exclusive media rights partner for the 2026-2027 season. Last month, DAZN announced deals with several other NBA teams, filling the gap that regional sports networks left behind after closing up shop. A deal with San Antonio was strongly suggested but was not official until now. In a deal similar to …

Adam Silver and the NBA brought the hammer down on the Clippers. Announcing the findings and penalties from a year-long investigation into the Clippers using team sponsors and business partners to circumvent the salary cap and funnel more money to Kawhi Leonard, the league came down with the harshest penalties in league history: Advertisement • The Clippers surrender five first-round …

Ideally, you don’t want an ownership change to come right in the middle of a restructuring of a front office and franchise philosophy. It tends to cause some issues. The Lakers find themselves in an awkward position. The Dodgerizing of the front office was well underway when Mark Walter abruptly sold the team to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner. Advertisement …

The NBA dropped the hammer on the Los Angeles Clippers and team owner Steve Ballmer on Wednesday, and the Clippers are vowing to fight back. The league released the long-awaited results of its investigation into allegations that the Clippers circumvented the NBA’s salary cap in its dealings with All-Star Kawhi Leonard and multiple third-party vendors. Advertisement The league concluded that …

Shortly after NBA commissioner Adam Silver handed the Los Angeles Clippers the most severe punishment for salary cap circumvention in over a quarter of a century, star forward Kawhi Leonard, the central figure of the yearlong investigation, released a statement: “Integrity and respect for this game are fundamental to who I am. I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgment …

Adam Silver didn’t just drop the hammer on the Los Angeles Clippers. He busted out the sledgehammer and called in the wrecking ball for good measure. Make no mistake about it, the commissioner sent a message on Wednesday. Not just to the Clippers. He cc’d the entire NBA and anyone who dared to think about the words, “cap circumvention.” Advertisement …

Pablo Torre, the journalist whose reporting led the NBA to crack down on the Los Angeles Clippers for circumventing the league salary cap rules, said he is not done with the story. “There is more to come than is in the NBA report,” Torre said Wednesday, Sept. 2 during his podcast, Pablo Torre Finds Out. “This is not everything.” Advertisement …

“This is a historic moment for our organization and our fans,” Lawrence Frank said in a statement on July 10, 2019. And oh, man, does “historic” not even begin to cover it. Frank, the president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Clippers, delivered that cherry quote up near the top of the press release officially announcing the signing of …

Fines, suspensions, forfeited picks and temporary league banishment. Those were the consequences the NBA came down with following their investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers for salary cap circumvention tactics with their superstar Kawhi Leonard. Advertisement The hammer came down hard on the Clippers, Leonard and those found to be involved with the investigation. The league said it “found a …

What was the final cost for the Los Angeles Clippers acquiring Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in 2019? Just as the organization had finally paid off their significant draft pick haul of five first rounders, two pick swaps and future two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to Oklahoma City to secure Leonard’s running mate from seven years ago, the NBA dropped the …