NBA commissioner Adam Silver said on Tuesday, September 15 that the league looked at past precedent before stripping the Los Angeles Clippers of five first-round draft picks for circumventing the salary cap, describing the decision as a painful one given its effect on the franchise’s fans. Silver was speaking at a news conference following the NBA’s two-day Board of Governors meeting, his first public comments since the punishments were handed down.
The penalties, announced by the league on September 2, followed an investigation into off-court income opportunities arranged for Kawhi Leonard. The Clippers forfeited their first-round picks in 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033 and were fined $30 million, while owner Steve Ballmer was suspended from all league and team activities for one year. President of business operations Gillian Zucker was suspended without pay for a year, president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank for six months, and Leonard was required to pay $700,000 to the league. The franchise was also placed under a five-year compliance and monitoring program.
Silver pointed to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were docked five first-round picks for cap circumvention in the early 2000s, as the precedent the league used in settling on the Clippers’ penalty. “I don’t think in any way we’ve done permanent damage to this franchise. No question, this is a setback for the team,” Silver said, adding that the loss of draft picks “has to go directly to competition” and that the ultimate goal of the sanctions is to ensure other teams do not engage in the same behaviour. He said he had “no inkling” that any other franchise is currently doing so.
The Clippers were not represented at the Board of Governors meeting because the team is still in the process of appointing an interim governor to serve during Ballmer’s suspension. Leonard, the two-time Finals MVP at the centre of the investigation, has since been traded to the Toronto Raptors.
Silver also confirmed that the league’s expansion discussions are currently focused more on Las Vegas than Seattle, with the next round of bids due later this week, and that the NBA is interviewing search firms to identify a successor to retiring WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
