GARDEN CITY, N.Y. — The NBA’s decision to impose $30 million in fines and strip the Los Angeles Clippers of five future first-round draft picks sends a powerful message to the league’s other teams: There are consequences for trying to circumvent the salary cap to land or retain a star player, says a New York sports law professor.

The NBA found that the Clippers violated the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) by facilitating endorsement opportunities between Kawhi Leonard and four companies that did business with the team — Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics and Lockton Insurance.

According to the league’s investigation, the Clippers helped arrange the endorsement opportunities and pressured the companies to enter into the agreements if they wanted to maintain business relationships with the team. The NBA also found that the Clippers paid certain personal expenses for Leonard and expenses incurred by his representatives and failed to properly report solicitations made on Leonard’s behalf.

Andrew Ross Sack, a New York sports attorney and Professor of Sports Law at LIU Post, says the case illustrates why the NBA’s salary-cap rules must be enforced aggressively.

“Even in the sports world, no one is above the law,” Sack said. “The Clippers’ pursuit of Kawhi Leonard crossed the line from aggressive recruiting into conduct designed to circumvent the rules that apply to every team in the league.”

The NBA’s investigation also revisited Leonard’s 2019 free agency, when he was being pursued by the Clippers after winning an NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors. During that period, Leonard’s then-business manager, Dennis Robertson, reportedly sought benefits that would have violated the CBA, including equity in the team, housing, private transportation and income opportunities outside the NBA, including endorsement deals.

While the Clippers told the league at the time that they were aware of Robertson’s demands, the team denied providing Leonard with those benefits.

The penalties announced by the NBA on September 2 include:

* $30 million fine against the Clippers
* Forfeiture of first-round draft picks in the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033 NBA Drafts
* One-year suspension of Clippers owner Steve Ballmer from all league and team activities
* One-year unpaid suspension of President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker
* Six-month unpaid suspension of President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank
* $700,000 fine against Leonard
* Five-year ban for Robertson from conducting business with NBA teams and their personnel

Sack says the case is particularly significant because salary-cap rules are intended to prevent teams with greater financial resources from gaining an unfair advantage over their competitors.

“The salary cap is supposed to create a level playing field,” Sack said. “If a team can effectively use business relationships, endorsement arrangements or personal benefits to provide a star player with compensation that falls outside the cap, then the entire purpose of the system is undermined.”

He says the NBA’s response also demonstrates that teams cannot assume they can avoid accountability simply by disguising player compensation as business or endorsement arrangements.

“In their unstoppable quest to sign one of the league’s top free agents, the Clippers appear to have been willing to do whatever it took, whatever the cost, to land Kawhi Leonard,” Sack said. “That included conduct the NBA determined circumvented the salary cap and violated the league’s rules. The severity of these penalties shows that the NBA is prepared to protect the integrity of its salary-cap system.”

Sack is available for interviews about the Clippers penalties, NBA salary-cap rules, player endorsement agreements, free agency and what the case could mean for other professional sports leagues.

For more information, call Mr. Sack at (516) 526-3319 or The Law Offices of Steven Mitchell Sack at (917) 371-8000.

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*Photo of Mr. Sack is attached.