{"id":2125417,"date":"2026-09-02T20:42:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2125417"},"modified":"2026-09-02T20:42:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:42:49","slug":"nba-drops-hammer-on-clippers-steve-ballmer-in-kawhi-salary-cap-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2125417","title":{"rendered":"NBA Drops Hammer On Clippers, Steve Ballmer In Kawhi Salary Cap Probe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/imagez.tmz.com\/image\/91\/16by9\/2026\/09\/02\/914494bfe2a440f3aea9ef8c0ea11904_xl.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"article article--permalink \">\n<header class=\"article__header\">\n<h1 class=\"article__header--headline-title\">NBA Drops Hammer On Clippers, Steve Ballmer In Kawhi Salary Cap Probe<\/h1>\n<h2 class=\"article__header--headline-fragments\"><span class=\"article__header--hf1 text-uppercase h3\">NBA<\/span><span class=\"article__header--hf2 text-uppercase h1\">Drops Hammer On Clippers, Ballmer<\/span><span class=\"article__header--hf3 text-none h2\">&#8230; In Kawhi Sponsor Probe<\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\"social-media-container\" role=\"region\">\n<ul class=\"social social--sm\">\n<li>\n<div class=\"media-swipe\">Breaking News<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"social-item\">\n<li class=\"social-item\">\n<li class=\"social-item\"><\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tmz.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"google-preferred-btn js-track-link\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"google-preferred-btn__icon\" src=\"https:\/\/static.tmz.com\/tmz-web\/img\/article\/google-icon.svg\" alt=\"Google\" loading=\"lazy\"><span class=\"google-preferred-btn__title\">Add TMZ on Google<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"byline\">By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/pages\/about\/\">TMZ Staff<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"date-wrapper\">\n                                                                        Published <time class=\"published-datetime\" datetime=\"2026-09-02T13:42:49-07:00\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/sitemaps\/article\/202609\"><br \/>\n                September 2, 2026<br \/>\n                <\/a><br \/>\n                            1:42 PM PDT<\/time><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article__blocks clearfix\">\n<section id=\"cb-2c16d0aa3521a7f0cd264d25677b6c4e\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-image-block canvas-image-block-permalink canvas-image-block--default  canvas-block-is-first \">\n<div class=\"image-block\"><a class=\"js-click-image js-track-link image-lightbox-preview\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:image-asset:image_jpg_20260902_914494bfe2a440f3aea9ef8c0ea11904\" data-container-ref=\"tmz:article:42c047b0-1991-4771-aa37-3209600ac3bd\" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"img-wrapper\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/imagez.tmz.com\/image\/91\/4by3\/2026\/09\/02\/914494bfe2a440f3aea9ef8c0ea11904_md.jpg\" alt=\"kawhi leonard and steve ballmer clipper\" width=\"728\" height=\"546\" class=\"img-fluid image-block__img-fluid img-aspect-auto\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"image-block__card-footer\"><span class=\"media-credit image-block__media-credit\">Getty Composite<\/span><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"cb-caa378ac5636feb3f5bc34158bc62685\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default  \" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;text_block&quot;}\">\n<p>The NBA just unloaded on the Los Angeles Clippers, snatching five first-round draft picks, fining them $30 million, and suspending owner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/people\/steve-ballmer\/\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><strong>Steve Ballmer<\/strong><\/a> for an entire season!<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"cb-bb37156179022a2617090c25942a876f\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default  \" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;text_block&quot;}\">\n<p>The stiff punishment was all part of the league&#8217;s investigation into whether superstar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/people\/kawhi-leonard\/\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><strong>Kawhi Leonard<\/strong><\/a> circumvented the NBA&#8217;s salary cap rules &#8230; as a way to get compensation that wasn&#8217;t on the books.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"cb-4963cf44755b4cccbf3fb02fe649d2c7\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-image-block canvas-image-block-permalink canvas-image-block--default  \">\n<div class=\"image-block\"><a class=\"js-click-image js-track-link image-lightbox-preview\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:image-asset:image_jpg_20250108_63634a535143451fb7943e14ffe66620\" data-container-ref=\"tmz:article:42c047b0-1991-4771-aa37-3209600ac3bd\" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"img-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/imagez.tmz.com\/image\/63\/4by3\/2025\/01\/08\/63634a535143451fb7943e14ffe66620_md.jpg\" alt=\"kawhi leonard la clippers sub getty swipe 2\" width=\"728\" height=\"546\" class=\"img-fluid image-block__img-fluid img-aspect-auto\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"image-block__card-footer\"><span class=\"media-credit image-block__media-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"cb-3c15920bc7ffbf6cd4d90c3c380f09ec\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default  \" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;text_block&quot;}\">\n<p>&#8220;The\u00a0NBA\u00a0announced today that the LA Clippers and Kawhi Leonard have been penalized for violating the salary cap circumvention rules contained in the league\u2019s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA),&#8221; the league said.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"cb-87535995eee2f3ac22c3eeaca3d7a0b9\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default  \" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;text_block&quot;}\">\n<p>The Clippers &#8212; who also had several other execs suspended &#8212; weren&#8217;t alone.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"cb-b7abe9e065ce67522f6488ba1cb93334\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default  \" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;text_block&quot;}\">\n<p>Kawhi was also ordered to pay back $700K in restitution. His uncle, <strong>Dennis Robertson<\/strong>, was also banned for five years.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"cb-a070612fba8cfabac48191ee117202b7\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-instagram-media-block canvas-instagram-media-block-permalink canvas-instagram-media-block--default  \">\n<div id=\"cb-a070612fba8cfabac48191ee117202b7-1942158745-target\" class=\"d-flex justify-content-center\">\n<p>Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2026\/09\/02\/nba-punishes-clippers-kawhi-leonard-steve-ballmer\/&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/imagez.tmz.com\/image\/91\/16by9\/2026\/09\/02\/914494bfe2a440f3aea9ef8c0ea11904_xl.jpg&#8221;] NBA Drops Hammer On Clippers, Steve Ballmer In Kawhi Salary Cap Probe NBADrops Hammer On Clippers, Ballmer&#8230; In Kawhi Sponsor Probe Breaking News Add TMZ on Google By TMZ Staff Published September 2, 2026 1:42 PM PDT Getty Composite The NBA just unloaded on the Los Angeles Clippers, snatching five first-round draft [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,77],"class_list":["post-2125417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tmz-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2125417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2125417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2125417\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2125417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2125417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2125417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}