Steve Ballmer, Clippers to comply with NBA penalties over Kawhi Leonard salary cap circumvention scandal

LOS ANGELES - Steve Ballmer announced he and the Los Angeles Clippers will comply with the penalties imposed by the NBA over the Kawhi Leonard salary cap circumvention scandal.

What we know:

On Sunday, Sept. 13, the Los Angeles Clippers owner issued a statement apologizing to fans, employees and fellow NBA owners for the "distraction and distressed" caused by the team's salary cap circumvention case.

Ballmer said in the statement that the team has since paid the $30 million fine after the league announced punishments against him and the Clippers back in Sept. 2.

Below is a statement issued by Ballmer on Sunday, Sept. 13:

"This has been a very difficult time for everybody associated with the Clippers, and for that, I have sincere regrets. I want to apologize to our fans, employees, and my fellow NBA team owners for the distraction and distress this matter has caused, for which I accept responsibility as principal owner.

We are committing to put this chapter behind us. We have communicated to the NBA that we are complying with the penalties assessed by the league, have paid the fine, and are moving forward. While there are still disagreements concerning the findings in the report, this is not where I want to focus. Team owners should support, not distract.

The challenges ahead of us are significant, but so is our resolve. We will continue to build our team and invest in our community. The confidence of our fans is our priority. With our talented roster, outstanding staff and clear vision, I am certain that we will compete at the highest level and be an organization our fans can be proud of."

The backstory:

Ballmer appears to have completely backtracked from the Clippers' original stance of trying to "vigorously challenge" the NBA's findings and penalties. This shift follows the league's imposition of a long list of punishments, which included suspending Ballmer for a year and forcing the Clippers to give up five first-round draft picks across the 2029–2033 NBA drafts.

The Clippers had issued the following statement 11 days before Ballmer announced he would comply:

"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. 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 it’s fairness and accuracy. For the past year, we cooperated fully and in good faith and we will now fight just as hard to demonstrate our innocence. We intend to vigorously challenge these findings and penalties through every avenue available to us and look forward to an ethical and impartial arbitration process."

The punishments come in connection to a bombshell 2025 report from Pablo Torre implying that the Clippers and Leonard were involved in unannounced endorsement deals with multiple companies to pay the NBA star under the table.

One of the companies endorsing Leonard, according to Torre's report, had a "no-show" deal that required the NBA star to do zero marketing work, an allegation that ultimately led NBA to declare that Leonard and the Clippers violated NBA's salary cap circumvention rules.

Following a year-long investigation spearheaded by the NBA, the league has since fined Leonard $700,000 for his role in the salary cap circumvention case.