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Kawhi Leonard gets best-case scenario, leaves Clippers in the dust after NBA investigation
Confirmed
In Short: The LA Clippers have been fined $30m by the NBA for violating salary rules to benefit Kawhi Leonard, who has since left the team.
The LA Clippers have been fined $30m by the NBA for violating salary rules, a move that comes after an investigation found the team had been seeking to benefit Kawhi Leonard off the court. The fine, the largest in the league's history, reflects the seriousness of the violations, according to NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
Leonard, who joined the Clippers in 2019 and won two NBA Finals MVP awards, accepted full responsibility for his actions and regretted the distraction caused to fans and his family. The NBA's investigation revealed a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers, a prior offender of the salary-cap circumvention rules.
Following the ruling, Leonard left the Clippers earlier this year, while the organization and personnel will be subject to a compliance and monitoring program overseen by the league for five years. The NBA's investigation also found that the Clippers initiated off-court income opportunities between Leonard and four separate companies.
The fine and the resulting scandal have left many questioning the integrity of the NBA and the Clippers organization, with some suggesting that Leonard himself was not fully implicated in the violations. The full scale of the UK's forced adoption scandal revealed how systemic issues can affect communities, a stark contrast to the individual focus of the NBA case.
What's confirmed
What's still developing
- Kawhi Leonard joined the LA Clippers in 2019 The LA Clippers have been fined $30m (£22.2m) by the National Basketball Association (NBA) for violating salary rules in order to funnel millions of dollars to star player…
- The fine - the largest in the league's history - comes after the NBA report said Leonard pressured the Clippers into "obtaining off-court income opportunities [and] successfully obtaining those opportunities".
- The NBA said the Clippers had been guilty of "knowingly seeking to help Mr Leonard obtain off-court income opportunities".
- NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he was "deeply disappointed" by the Clippers' "flagrant violations" of the rules and said he believed the "severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations".
- The punishments come after the NBA said its month-long investigation "found a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers organisation, a prior offender of the salary-cap…
- Following the ruling, Leonard, 35, said he "accepts full responsibility" for his actions and "regrets the distraction this situation has caused the fans and my family".
- "I entered into my contract with the Clippers as well as the agreements in question in good faith, fully committed to fulfilling my obligations and with no knowledge of any intent on anyone's part to circumvent the…
- The two-time NBA Finals MVP joined the Clippers in 2019 and spent seven years with the franchise before leaving earlier this year.