The Los Angeles Clippers may already be facing trouble after allegations surfaced that they circumvented the salary cap to sign Kawhi Leonard in 2019. That trouble could get worse if the rest of the NBA’s owners get their hands on further evidence.

Multiple reports Thursday suggested that NBA owners want a serious investigation into the allegations that the Clippers used a phony endorsement deal to funnel money to Leonard without it counting against the salary cap. NBA reporter Zach Lowe said on “The Zach Lowe Podcast” that the sentiment around the league is that the NBA should “lay the hammer down” if the allegations are true. Executives also believe that the onus is now on the Clippers to counter the allegations, not on the league’s investigation to prove them.

Chris Mannix of SI reported that ownership groups are having conversations about the allegations because they may have lost revenue if the claims are true. The Clippers are in the luxury tax, and by signing Leonard to less than a max deal, the franchise avoided stiffer tax penalties. That means a loss of potential revenue to the 29 other teams.

Here's a conversation ownership groups are having, I'm told: If Pablo Torre's report is accurate, how much money did that cost us? Clippers are taxpayers. In his last contract, Kawhi took less than the max. Full max, bigger penalties, bigger payouts. Nothing unites NBA owners more than lost revenue.

In other words, top figures around the NBA want to see the Clippers punished very harshly if these claims turn out to be true. That would likely go beyond a fine and involved a loss of draft picks, at minimum.

The Clippers have publicly denied the allegations and accused the phony company of defrauding them. The NBA is investigating, and the story may ensnare some other teams and players as well.

Source: https://larrybrownsports.com/basketball/nba-owners-reaction-kawhi-leonard-allegations/715416

41 comments

  5. The owners are absolutely going to angry the clippers and Kawhi stole some of their revenue.

  7. This is the biggest reason why I don’t see this being tactically ignored by the league. The other owners lost money due to this, and stealing from the league is a big no no.

  8. Kawhi played for clippers in 6 years, he earned $241 million, Lebron earned $256 million in last 6 years. The idea that Kawhi took less than max make no sense.

    Edit: KD earned $261 million in the last 6 years, Curry earned $282 million

  10. The reason this is such a big story is because of how impactful it is ESPECIALLY in the current environment. The new CBA was put in place in large part to prevent Ballmer (or mega rich owners in general) from an unfair advantage. This reporting suggests that not only did the Clippers retain a star player and circumvent the cap which saves the team money and their ability to form a competitive team, but it also means paying less to everybody else. And a surprising amount of people (like on ESPN) are making it seem like this information isn’t already pretty damning and that if it is true it’s just Uncle Dennis going rogue.

    This is a three strikes your out situation to me. They’ve already been fined for improper actions. They’ve already been investigated (Clippers and Uncle Dennis). So now you’re saying the Clippers saved money on taxes, put themselves in a better position to build a competitive team, enticed a star player to stay, all while depriving the other teams of money they otherwise would have gotten? I just don’t see how the Clippers aren’t hammered for this, because ultimately the owners of every other team should want the Clippers to get nailed and that’s basically all Silver needs to do it.

  12. He took, what, 2-3 million less than the max? Had he taken the max, Clippers would have had to make the really difficult choice between Bones Hyland and Brandon Boston Jr! Fines aren’t really going to bother what the Clippers are trying to do.

    Wait, aren’t we mad about owners being greedy?

  13. At the time I don’t think a single person thought he was getting underpaid. He signed a 3 year extension January 2024 that was only shy a couple million from the max each season. (Max was 160m. He got 152m over 3 years)

    The prior playoffs he only played 2 games before getting injured. He had right knee surgery the 2023 off season.

    People in the clippers subreddit and here were asking if it was an overpay to pay Kawhi 50m in the last year of his contract when he’s 35 years old.

    Reports were that Paul George wouldn’t take the same contract as Kawhi.

    And on top of it all

    Even if Kawhi got 2.5m more a year. They unlikely would have been luxury tax payers. The Clippers did not pay the luxury tax last season thanks to Paul George leaving.

  16. NBA owners literally built this CBA specifically for owners like Balmer to not spend all this money without tax penalties and fines. Small market teams find out he’s using under the table money to circumvent the tax and avoid not adding to the pot will make them freak out lol

  17. This is what I said from the beginning. Kawhi taking less than the max looks SUPER sus for a guy who seems to wring every penny and milk everything

  18. Another reason why I think a big fine is in the works for Ballmer. Lots of people are rightly saying Ballmer won’t feel it – so what: these owners will definitely want some monetary compensation even it’s just to punish Ballmer by directly hitting his pocket.

    Obviously, if this is true the NBA should do more than just a monetary fine – but I think one will be included for sure.

  21. Fucking him make him sell the team and force the team to relocate somewhere else. Enough of this shit.

  22. I’m seeing lots of analysis from the Talking Heads but nothing from prosecutors. I’m curious if Ballmer cops to this is he opening himself up to state or federal charges somehow? Wire fraud? Tax evasion?

  23. Eh. Ballmer will offer to pay triple what they would’ve received and it will still be a drop in the bucket for him.

  24. you can fuck with poor people’s money and they will do nothing. But when you fuck with rich peoples money they will do everything to punish you for it.

  25. People out here talking like “oh everybody does it” my man no, not every owner can give an additional 28 milli to their favorite player.

  28. Interesting point. Something different to consider in the same vein: having Kawhi on the team (along with the other big names that he and his contract was able to help bring in) was a big part of getting the new stadium built; this increases the Clippers valuation which, it can be argued, increases all team’s valuations across the league.

  29. the only rule rich people have to follow is **don’t fuck with other rich people’s money**

    see: Elizabeth Holmes, Bernie Madoff, Jeff Skilling

  31. Look at D@n Snyd3r. The cheerleader trafficking and everything else was fine; it was cooking the books when they forced him to sell.

  34. Ding, ding, ding… this is why this is such a big deal.

    The one thing the owners definitely care about is someone fucking with their revenue.

    Look at Dan Snyder:

    Traffic cheerleaders? I sleep

    Fuck with the revenue sharing? REAL SHIT

  36. I always feel like owners would just give guys briefcases full
    Of money which is what they may have start going back too lol

  37. you ain’t trying if you ain’t cheating

    oh wait….clippers haven’t won anything…

    /s

    but really i wonder what they asked for from the raptors and lakers (both teams that were also all in on kawhi)

    did unc dennis want part ownership of the lakers? or be on magic’s level of involvement?

    did unc dennis want to party with drake in toronto?

  40. Like, it’s genuine cheating and stealing at the same time.

    If this gets brushed under the rug, the NBA is seriously giving up on itself.

  41. Ballmer paid warriors dynasty level taxes year after year with no signs of stopping until all the other owners changed the rules to this 2nd apron shit we have now.

    Owners should be asking themselves how much more money they cost themselves with that.

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