Stephen A. Smith has delivered a scathing assessment of the Los Angeles Clippers after the NBA found the franchise and Kawhi Leonard violated the league’s salary-cap circumvention rules.
Speaking on The Stephen A. Smith Show, Smith called the situation “some all time egregious stuff” before arguing that the Clippers’ decision-making was particularly difficult to understand because of the player involved.
“This is some all time egregious stuff. I take it back all time stupid stuff. Why is it stupid? Because it was for Kawhi Leonard, not LeBron James. If this was for LeBron James, I understand. If this was for Steph Curry, I understand. Kawhi Leonard? You did that for Kawhi Leonard?” Smith said.
Smith also questioned why the Clippers would take such risks given Leonard’s injury history and the team’s lack of success during the period in which the NBA said the violations occurred.
“And remember, this is dating back to like 2023. He had already been injured a few times since arriving with the Clippers that already going nowhere. You did this for him? For him? It’s a new form of stupidity. And I don’t know if the Clippers will ever recover from this. This is catastrophic. This is so bad,” Smith added.
The NBA’s investigation, conducted by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, found what the league described as a “pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations.” According to the NBA, the Clippers initiated and facilitated off-court income opportunities between Leonard and Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics and Lockton Insurance.
The league also found that the Clippers induced companies to enter endorsement agreements with Leonard by offering them team business, while the organization paid personal expenses for Leonard and his representatives.
The penalties were severe. Los Angeles was ordered to forfeit its first-round picks in the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033 NBA Drafts and was fined $30 million.
Owner Steve Ballmer received a one-year suspension from all league and team activities, while President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker was suspended without pay for one year and President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank received a six-month unpaid suspension.
Leonard was fined $700,000, while his former business manager Dennis Robertson was banned from conducting business with NBA teams and affiliates for five years. The Clippers will also operate under a five-year league compliance and monitoring program.
The timing makes the ruling even more consequential for the Clippers. Los Angeles finished 42-40 and ninth in the Western Conference in 2025-26 before trading Leonard to the Toronto Raptors.
Leonard had remained an elite offensive player during his final Clippers season, averaging 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 65 games while shooting 50.5% from the field, 38.7% from three-point range and 89.2% from the free-throw line. He earned All-NBA Second Team honors and finished seventh in MVP voting.
The NBA said its agreement with the NBPA makes the penalties final and binding, leaving the Clippers facing the long-term consequences of a case that Smith believes could fundamentally alter the franchise.
