Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer has apologized nearly two weeks after the team was slapped with widespread sanctions by the National Basketball Association.
In a statement published in
Earlier this month, the Clippers were sanctioned for violating the league’s salary cap avoidance rules related to star player Kawhi Leonard and four companies doing business with the team.
The team will also be stripped of five first-round draft picks (one per year starting in 2029) and pay a $30 million fine, the largest amount in NBA history.
Ballmer said the team complied with the penalty, paid the fine and is “moving forward.”
But he added: “While there are still disagreements over the report’s findings, that is not what I want to focus on. Team owners should be supported, not distracted.”
When the penalty was revealed, the Clippers “vehemently” rejected the NBA’s findings. The team said it intended to contest the report, adding that its findings were “the result of a highly biased investigation that seeks to legitimize a predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence.”
The NBA said Ballmer “knowingly” tried to help Leonard obtain off-the-court earning opportunities worth millions of dollars.
“I have no knowledge of anyone’s intentions to try to get around the salary cap,” Leonard said.
Ballmer went on to say that the Clippers will continue to build the team and invest in the community, adding, “I am confident that we will be an organization that competes at the highest level and that our fans can be proud of.”
— CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
