Hammer Comes Down on the Clippers

**Craig Carton** (0:00)
A little bit of breaking news. The NBA has finally ruled on the Los Angeles Clippers, and Shams has the report. So I mean, he doesn't say they found him guilty, but there are heavy penalties to Palmer and the Clippers. So yeah, they're stripping the franchise, the NBA is stripping the franchise of five first round picks, issuing a $30 million fine to owner Steve Ballmer, and suspensions for Ballmer, Lawrence Frank, and Gillian Zucker, according to ESPN.

**Chris McMonigle** (0:32)
Lawrence Frank is their president of baseball, basketball.

**Craig Carton** (0:34)
Basketball operations, yep. Kawhi Leonard will have to pay $700,000 restitution for improper benefits by the Clippers for his uncle and former business rep, Dennis Robertson. No contract void or suspension for Leonard and Robertson, who was fired by Leonard in June.
Oh, I'm sorry, excuse me. No suspension, no contract void, no suspension for Leonard. Robertson, who was fired in June by Leonard, is being banned by the NBA from all business dealings. So his uncle that he fired that was at the heart of this, he is not allowed to do business with the NBA ever again. And the Clippers are losing five first round picks.
Steve Ballmer is being fined $30 million, and Ballmer, Frank and Zucker are all being suspended. Now, you said for a year in there, I'm not seeing that from...

**Chris McMonigle** (1:27)
Yes, suspended from all league and team activities for one year for knowing, knowingly, we know, for helping out Kawhi.
Their business ops president, who is Zucker, is suspended without pay for a year, and then Lawrence Frank is suspended without pay for six months. And then it doesn't say anything about the trade. I know the trade was on hold. I'm assuming it goes through now.

**Craig Carton** (1:49)
I'm assuming now the trade's gonna go through.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:51)
But that is...

**Craig Carton** (1:53)
They haven't, they find... They find, what's his name?

**Chris McMonigle** (1:59)
Leonard.

**Craig Carton** (1:59)
And we have a statement from Leonard? Go ahead, read it.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:01)
Integrity, and this is through his agent, Harrison Gaines.
Integrity and respect for this game are fundamental to who I am. I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle, and regret the distraction. This situation has caused the fans of my family. I entered into a contract with the Clippers as well, as the agreement in question, in good faith, fully committed to fulfilling my obligation, with no knowledge of any intent on anyone's part to circumvent the salary cap for 15 years. My priority has been giving everything to my family, the game, oh, this is going to give us clarification, the game and those I choose to share the court with. As I return to Toronto, I am focused on what I can control. Closing this chapter and moving forward with a clean slate. I guess because he wasn't affected, suspended, like he wasn't suspended at all.

**Craig Carton** (2:47)
That's what I was just going to say. He was fined $700,000, but no voided of contract and no suspension.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:53)
And by the way, his uncle has been a problem his entire career.

**Craig Carton** (2:55)
And I want to just clear something up. When they said banned, I assumed it was forever. It's a five year ban. So his uncle, what's his name? Yeah, I mean, he'll probably be out of the league.

**Chris McMonigle** (3:04)
His uncle is the one that...

**Craig Carton** (3:06)
His uncle, Dennis Robertson is being banned from the NBA, doing all business with the NBA for five years.

**Chris McMonigle** (3:12)
He was the one who had issues with Popovich and the way they handled his injury. He was the one, every step of the way, and maybe he just trusts him, and it wasn't truly kawaii, just using his uncle as scapegoat, but his uncle is always... Either way, he's responsible. Yeah, but even past this, because I gotta be honest, we might be the next ones getting investigated if all things go the way they've gone, with Jalen Brunson leaving 100 billion on the table.

**Craig Carton** (3:36)
That's a good point.

**Chris McMonigle** (3:37)
But that is, it's a huge fine. It's a huge penalty. Five first round picks. For a team that's tanking.
They're tanking now. They've given up. They're going to get picks back in the Raptors deal. And it's one in each of the next five drafts. So that's a huge, $30 million is also, he's got it. He's got it.

**Craig Carton** (3:56)
It's a huge fine. And 700,000 for Kawhi is probably nothing to him either. But it's the five draft picks of the franchise. I mean, the franchise losing, that's your lifeblood. And you said they're tanking.