Clippers rumors: Damning Kawhi Leonard investigation report leaves Steve Ballmer's owner peers 'aghast'
· Yahoo Sports
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While some in the media were appalled by LA Clippers’ Steve Ballmer and reports revealing Kawhi Leonard’s no-show endorsement deals, his contemporaries reportedly gave the suspended team owner the benefit of the doubt throughout the process. After investigative reporter Pablo Torre’s bombshell on Clippers’ Ballmer and Leonard led to LA losing five future first-round picks, talk around the NBA suggests most owners were surprised.
Despite the NBA’s lengthy investigation, owners were mostly siding with Ballmer and the Clippers, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
“I think Steve Ballmer largely was getting the benefit of the doubt from his peer owners through this process,” Windhorst said. “I know that there were some people who believed that he was, especially the teams that were trying to get Kawhi Leonard back in 2019 and heard out of Uncle Dennis’s mouth the requests that came through here, and the teams that were impacted by Kawhi picking the Clippers, they may not have felt that way…
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“But the teams that were not in the mix, they wanted to believe him. And the word that was said to me by a very influential person was that some of the other owners were aghast when they read this report.”
Former Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard was handed a $700,000 fine without any suspension as his trade to the Toronto Raptors was finalized following the NBA’s punishment. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is suspended for one year. In addition to forfeiting five consecutive first-round picks between 2029 and 2023, the team will pay a $30 million fine.
Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker is suspended without pay for one year, and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank is suspended without pay for six months.
Related: Some ESPN staffers appalled by Clippers’ Steve Ballmer-Kawhi Leonard reporting ‘disaster’