Sep 3, 2026 · 1 hr 31 min · 14 segments
Zach is joined by Kirk Goldsberry and Michael McCann to break down the massive punishment given to the Los Angeles Clippers. They run through the report and share their takeaways on the entire…
Zach LoweHost
Sean FennesseyGuest
Michael McCannGuest
Kirk GoldsberryGuest
I think by the time, uh, people listen to this, they will know, uh, the extent of the penalties, but just in case.
The Clippers, having been found guilty by the NBA of cap circumvention, have been stripped of five first-round picks, one in each of the drafts from 2029 to 2023- 2033.
Steve Ballmer, their owner, has been suspended from all league activities for one year.
Gillian Zucker, their president of business operations, suspended without pay one year.
Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations, suspended without pay six months.
Kawhi Leonard is required to pay a fine of $700,000, and Dennis Robinson, his uncle, is banned from conducting business in the NBA.
... like as, as harsh of a penalty as you could have imagined, as they could have imagined, and they have released two separate statements today indicating that they are gonna fight this somehow, saying that, uh, the NBA changed its tune late in the game, saying that really all they are guilty of is introducing sponsors to Kawhi Leonard, and that they were under the impression that that was fine.
And even more sort of dire from the NBA's perspective, a little statement within a statement saying, "If you spend $50 million investigating every team in the league, I bet you find similar things." We'll see because I think the report is much more damning, um, than that.
So, so headline number one is for an organization that has struggled for relevancy basically its entire existence, this is pretty close to a death knell for a decade, a half decade.
Uh, it, the Kawhi Leonard trade will presumably go through now, so they'll have Brandon Ingram and Grady Dick and picks from the Raptors, and the Raptors get loaded up with Kawhi.
But, I mean, as recently as yesterday, a front office executive from another team, not the Clippers, not the Denver Nuggets who are about to come up, said, "Hey, the Clippers are kinda quietly positioning themselves in case Jokic actually wants to leave Denver with lots of cap space in LA and all that." Forget that.
I think by the time, uh, people listen to this, they will know, uh, the extent of the penalties, but just in case.
The Clippers, having been found guilty by the NBA of cap circumvention, have been stripped of five first-round picks, one in each of the drafts from 2029 to 2023- 2033.
Steve Ballmer, their owner, has been suspended from all league activities for one year.
Gillian Zucker, their president of business operations, suspended without pay one year.
Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations, suspended without pay six months.
Kawhi Leonard is required to pay a fine of $700,000, and Dennis Robinson, his uncle, is banned from conducting business in the NBA.
... like as, as harsh of a penalty as you could have imagined, as they could have imagined, and they have released two separate statements today indicating that they are gonna fight this somehow, saying that, uh, the NBA changed its tune late in the game, saying that really all they are guilty of is introducing sponsors to Kawhi Leonard, and that they were under the impression that that was fine.
And even more sort of dire from the NBA's perspective, a little statement within a statement saying, "If you spend $50 million investigating every team in the league, I bet you find similar things." We'll see because I think the report is much more damning, um, than that.
So, so headline number one is for an organization that has struggled for relevancy basically its entire existence, this is pretty close to a death knell for a decade, a half decade.
Uh, it, the Kawhi Leonard trade will presumably go through now, so they'll have Brandon Ingram and Grady Dick and picks from the Raptors, and the Raptors get loaded up with Kawhi.
But, I mean, as recently as yesterday, a front office executive from another team, not the Clippers, not the Denver Nuggets who are about to come up, said, "Hey, the Clippers are kinda quietly positioning themselves in case Jokic actually wants to leave Denver with lots of cap space in LA and all that." Forget that.
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