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    "headline": "NBA fines Clippers $30 million, suspends Ballmer and strips draft picks in salary cap scandal",
    "dek": "NBA fined Clippers $30M and Kawhi Leonard $700k for salary cap violations, also stripping five first-round picks.",
    "prose": "The NBA fined Kawhi Leonard, a star forward for the Los Angeles Clippers, $700,000 for violating the same salary cap evasion rules. [^1]\n\nThe NBA fined two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard $700,000, suspended the team's president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank for six months, and suspended team president of business operations Gillian Zucker for one year as part of the same sanctions. [^2]\n\nThe NBA stated that Steve Ballmer was suspended because he knowingly attempted to help Kawhi Leonard obtain off-court income opportunities. [^3]\n\nKawhi Leonard said he accepted full responsibility for the misjudgments of people in his inner circle and regretted the distraction, but also said he celebrated his contract and the agreements in good faith without knowledge of any intention to circumvent the salary cap. [^4]\n\nThe Los Angeles Clippers rejected the NBA's findings in a statement, calling the investigation biased and saying the league's private statements differed from its public announcement, and said the team would challenge the sanctions through arbitration. [^5]",
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      "statement": "The NBA fined Kawhi Leonard, a star forward for the Los Angeles Clippers, $700,000 for violating the same salary cap evasion rules.",
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      "statement": "The NBA fined two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard $700,000, suspended the team's president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank for six months, and suspended team president of business operations Gillian Zucker for one year as part of the same sanctions.",
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