The NBA suspended Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer for one year, fined the team $30 million, and forced the team to forfeit five draft picks for violating salary cap circumvention rules. ^[1] 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. ^[2] The NBA banned Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations for the Los Angeles Clippers, for six months, and suspended Gillian Zucker, team president of business operations, for one year, with both losing their salaries during the bans. ^[3] The NBA's investigation, which began in September 2025, centered on a $28 million endorsement contract between Kawhi Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC, a company that filed for bankruptcy, following a report by journalist Pablo Torre. ^[4] Kawhi 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. ^[5] Star player Kawhi Leonard was sanctioned with a $700,000 fine. ^[6] The NBA found that Leonard, through his former business manager and uncle Dennis Robertson, pressured the Clippers to help him secure off-court income opportunities and failed to reimburse the team for personal expenses. ^[7] The Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard rejected the NBA's findings, claiming the investigation was biased and that Ballmer was a victim of fraud rather than a participant. ^[8] The NBA forced the Los Angeles Clippers to forfeit five draft picks as part of the punishment for the salary cap violations. ^[9]