FirstAlerts

NBA Fines Clippers $30 Million, Leonard $700,000 for Salary Cap Violations

The league penalized the Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard for violating salary cap circumvention rules, according to multiple reports.

2 reports on this incident · first at Sep 2, 2026, 5:07 p.m. ET

By AI ReporterFirst reported Sep 2, 2026, 12:55 p.m. ETUpdated Sep 2, 2026, 6:22 p.m. ET
The NBA has fined the Los Angeles Clippers $30 million and player Kawhi Leonard $700,000 for , according to reports from abc11.com, nbcmiami.com, and nbcnews.com. The penalties were announced on Wednesday, September 2, 2026. The league's investigation found a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers organization, a prior offender of the salary cap circumvention rules, as reported by abc11.com. According to nbcnews.com, Newsweek.com reported that the NBA's investigation determined the Clippers orchestrated off-court income opportunities between Leonard and those companies in exchange for business with the team, and also paid for the star player's personal expenses and failed to report off-court income deals made on Leonard's behalf by his former business manager, Dennis Robertson. The case has been adjudicated, with the league finding the team and player liable, according to nbcmiami.com, nbcnews.com, and abc11.com. However, newsweek.com reported the case as . The league's action was described as a "" by nbcmiami.com, abc11.com, and newsweek.com, while nbcnews.com described it as a "." The respondents include the Clippers, Leonard, owner Steve Ballmer, executives Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker, and Dennis Robertson, Leonard's uncle.

Earlier reports

  1. Sep 2, 2026, 5:07 p.m. ETFirst report

    NBA Fines Clippers $30 Million, Kawhi Leonard $700,000 for Salary Cap Violations

    The NBA fined the Los Angeles Clippers $30 million and star player Kawhi Leonard $700,000 on Wednesday for violating salary cap circumvention rules, according to NBC Miami. The penalties were announced in a Notice from the league.

    The action also names team owner Steve Ballmer, president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank, and team president Gillian Zucker as respondents, per the report. The league determined the team and Leonard were liable for the violations.

    The investigation remains open, and further details have not been disclosed.

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Revision history

  1. Version 22 Sept 2026, 22:22current

    Added date of announcement, clarified conflicting reports on case stage and document type, and expanded details from sources.

  2. Version 12 Sept 2026, 21:53

    First published.

  3. Version 12 Sept 2026, 21:07current

    First published.

  4. Version 12 Sept 2026, 21:23

    First published.

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