Kawhi Leonard; Steve Ballmer (Image via X)
The NBA star was recently hit with a $700,000 fine after the league investigated the Los Angeles Clippers over deals involving Leonard. The Clippers were fined $30 million. The team also lost five future first-round draft picks, covering the years 2029 through 2033.
There have been no reported criminal charges against Leonard, and it is not clear whether he is personally a target of the investigation.
The U.S, according to Front Office Sports. Kawhi Leonard’s already messy Clippers saga has taken another shocking turn. Now, the situation has gone far beyond the NBA. Federal prosecutors are reportedly investigating the Clippers’ dealings involving Leonard. That means a controversy that started inside the NBA is now being looked at by the U.S. government. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York has opened an early-stage investigation into the Clippers’ dealings surrounding Leonard. It is important to note that this investigation is still in its early stages. But the development has still raised the stakes in an already massive NBA scandal. The NBA had been looking into whether the Clippers helped Leonard make money outside his NBA salary through business and endorsement deals. The league ultimately punished the Clippers heavily. And when we say heavily, we mean really heavily. The NBA can punish teams and players for breaking league rules. Federal prosecutors, however, can investigate whether laws may have been broken.
Leonard reportedly had a $28 million endorsement deal with the company. The league eventually found that the Clippers had helped create off-court income opportunities for Leonard through companies connected to the team. The NBA investigated whether the arrangement was connected to the Clippers in a way that could have helped the team get around salary-cap rules. The Clippers have strongly rejected the NBA’s findings. The team and Ballmer have argued that the NBA’s investigation was unfair. Ballmer’s legal team has even described the process as a “witch hunt. The Clippers are also considering legal action against the NBA. So the team could now be dealing with several major legal and financial battles at the same time.