The NBA took a deceptively clever approach to punishing the Los Angeles Clippers for their efforts to circumvent the salary cap with Kawhi Leonard. Throughout the investigation, there was a widespread assumption that the Clippers would be able to fight any discipline through an arbitration process detailed in the league's collective bargaining agreement. However, that process can only be triggered by the NBPA, so when the NBA and the NBPA agreed on the punishments in the case, the Clippers had no league-sanctioned recourse.
That left them with two options. They could have attempted to fight the punishments through the court system, but that always would have been an uphill battle. Recent precedent, such as when the New York Knicks sued the Toronto Raptors, suggests that the courts prefer sports leagues to settle matters like this internally.
Or they could simply accept the punishments: five stripped first-round picks, suspensions for Steve Ballmer, Gillian Zucker and Lawrence Frank, and a $30 million fine. On Sunday night, the Clippers chose the latter. In a statement, Ballmer apologized to Clippers fans and the league "for the distraction and distress this matter has caused, for which I accept responsibility as principal owner." He noted that the Clippers have paid the $30 million fine, and while they still disagree with elements of the findings in the league's report, they will move forward in compliance with the league's penalties.
Ballmer and Zucker will be suspended for one year, and Frank will be suspended for six months. A statement from Steve Ballmer. pic.twitter.com/YvhdXA8dQf This was the responsible choice for any number of reasons. Their odds in a protracted legal battle would have been poor.
Even if they had succeeded in getting a judge to hear the case, the prospect of public discovery likely appealed to nobody. But most notably for Clipper fans, league precedent suggests this was likely the only path toward eventually reducing their sentence. Let's turn the clocks back to 2000, when the Minnesota Timberwolves were hit with similar penalties for cap circumvention involving Joe Smith.
They were stripped of five first-round picks for illegally agreeing to multiple contracts with Smith in advance, effectively using the Bird Rights system to gain access to a player they otherwise could not have afforded initially, only to eventually overpay him as a reward for joining them. However, that five-pick penalty didn't last all that long. The initial five-pick penalty came in October of 2000.
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