League

Boom, goes the Clippers.

Steve Ballmer has been tattered. Lawrence Frank has been shredded. Their team future has been flattened.

Boom, goes those damn Clippers.

They had transformed themselves from the ridiculed Clip Joint to a top-shelf NBA organization, with the billionaire owner, the beautiful arena, the best coach and the most devoted fans … but they apparently got greedy, seemingly played dirty, and now have been affixed with a scarlet eight letters that will follow them forever.

Cheaters.

The NBA has ruled that the Clippers are cheaters.

Ballmer, cheater. Frank, cheater. Even president of business operations Gillian Zucker, cheater.

The NBA suspended Ballmer and Zucker for one year and Frank for six months Wednesday for violating salary cap rules when they signed Kawhi Leonard in 2019.

In arguably the harshest punishment in sports since SMU was given college football’s death penalty in 1987 — this is even worse than the USC sucker punch of 2010 — the league added injury to insult by stripping the team of five consecutive draft picks from 2029 to 2033.

The league also fined the team $30 million and Leonard $700,000 but the issue here is not money.

The issue is trust.

How can any of the Clippers partners or sponsors or fans trust this team with their dollars or their time or their affection after they were apparently caught knowingly breaking one of the NBA’s cardinal rules?

You don’t mess with the salary cap. Period. It’s the one thing that keeps these disparate teams and markets competing on a level field. Period.

Yet according to the findings of a lengthy investigation by the NBA, the Clippers’ top three executives — Ballmer, Frank and Zucker — helped arrange rich endorsement deals for Leonard that allowed him to make considerably more money than his contract states. Leonard did little if any endorsing, collected the extra checks, and essentially was paid above and beyond the salary cap.

The circumvention was first revealed a year ago by the podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” which cited a $28-million endorsement deal with the now-bankrupt Aspiration, a sustainability services company. The subsequent NBA investigation discovered three more endorsement deals that amounted to similar salary cap circumvention, a charge which drew the particular ire of the league because the Clippers had been warned about salary cap circumvention with Leonard before.

Kawhi Leonard, above during a game against the Golden State Warriors at Intuit Dome in January, signed with the Clippers in 2019.

(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)

Bottom line, the Clippers seemingly flouted the rules, got burned, got punished, and now you have to wonder, how on earth do they move forward from this?

They started the recovery process immediately Wednesday by issuing a statement that accused the NBA of not playing fair.

“We vehemently reject the NBA’s findings, which are the result of a heavily biased investigation seeking to justify a predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence,” the statement began.

They can let out one of those trademark Ballmer screams and it still won’t matter. There is no arbitration or appeals process available. The NBA’s ruling is final.

All of which leaves the Clippers facing serious questions about their future.

First, will Ballmer still have the local support to own the team? His absence from his traditional seat under the basket will serve as a nightly reminder that he commanded a dirty ship. Their most vocal cheerleader is now their biggest scoundrel, and how do you come back from that?

Although he made great strides in dragging the Clippers back into relevance since buying the team from the shamed Donald Sterling in 2014 — even building that cool arena in Inglewood — Ballmer has lost much credibility with this decision.

He may need to sell to help the organization shed its stink. There’s been so much peddling of billion-dollar franchises around town lately, surely some rich group is in a position to take the Clippers off his hands.

Stan Kroenke? Too late. Bob Iger and Josh Kushner? Too late. Mark Walter? Um, no. How about those Buss kids, or are they too busy making nice with Manny Machado?

Then there’s the matter of Frank, who was struggling to build sustained success before this scandal. It would be a surprise to see him return, just as it would be a surprise to see Zucker return. For the Clippers to come out of this mess, they’re going to need to retool at the top.

Which brings this story to one Clipper leader who was not indicted in the investigation. How much longer will Ty Lue, one of the league’s very best coaches, want to stick around this mess? He has three years left on his contract. That could be three long years.

Finally, what of Kawhi Leonard? The Clippers thankfully traded him back to Toronto this summer, and hopefully that is where he’ll stay if the trade gets taken off hold with the investigation complete.

In all, just when you thought the Clippers reputation in this town had long since moved past all those years of losing and insults and embarrassments and Sterling scandals, just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse…

It just got worse.

The NBA handed down sweeping penalties to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, team executives, the team and star Kawhi Leonard following an investigation into allegations the group circumvented the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The Clippers said in a statement that they “vehemently reject the NBA’s findings” and vowed to challenge them. Leonard issued a statement saying he had no direct knowledge of the rule violations.

The findings announced Wednesday, the result of a nearly yearlong investigation conducted by Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, a high-powered New York law firm, determined the Clippers broke NBA rules by initiating off-court income opportunities between Leonard and four companies doing business with the team: Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics and Lockton Insurance.

The firm’s report stated that the Clippers facilitated endorsement agreements between the companies and Leonard, induced the companies to enter into the agreements by offering them business from the team, paid personal expenses on behalf of Leonard and his representatives and failed to report improper solicitations for off-court income made on Leonard’s behalf by Dennis Robertson, his then-business manager.

The investigation found Leonard received $66 million in endorsement pay from four companies facilitated by Ballmer and Clippers executives at the behest of the star’s then-manager. Ballmer invested $60 million in Aspiration and three other companies received $22 million from the Clippers in consulting fees.

As a result, the NBA issued the following sanctions:

• The Clippers are forfeiting first-round draft picks, one apiece in the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033 NBA drafts.
• The Clippers are fined $30 million.
• Ballmer is suspended from all league and team activities for one year for “knowingly seeking to help Leonard obtain off-court income opportunities, for approving a business deal that he knew was a precondition for Aspiration to enter into an endorsement agreement with Mr. Leonard, and for his failure to create conditions under which his organization abided by the NBA’s circumvention rules.”
• Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker is suspended without pay for one year for “being primarily and directly culpable for the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for providing false and misleading statements to investigators.”
• Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank is suspended without pay for six months for “his involvement with the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for approving impermissible expenses incurred by Mr. Leonard and his family.”
• The Clippers organization and personnel are subject to a compliance and monitoring program overseen by the league office for five years.
• Leonard is required to pay the league $700,000.
• Dennis Robertson, Leonard’s uncle and previous business manager, is banned from conducting business or otherwise engaging with NBA teams and their affiliates on behalf of or with respect to any player, employee or other league or team personnel for a period of five years.

The Clippers said in a statement they cooperated fully with the investigation and will fight “to demonstrate our innocence.”

“The NBA’s findings … are the result of a heavily biased investigation seeking to justify a predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence,” the team statement read. “What the league told us privately differs from what it announced today publicly, and they have not held themselves close to the standard Commissioner [Adam] Silver set at the start of this investigation to ensure it’s fairness and accuracy.”

”… We intend to vigorously challenge these findings and penalties through every avenue available to us and look forward to an ethical and impartial arbitration process.”

The Clippers most likely will have to take their claims to court. A league source not authorized to discuss the sanctions publicly said there is not an arbitration or appeal process available for the team to pursue. Arbitration is reserved for players and the National Basketball Players Association declined to pursue use of it in this case.

The Clippers released a letter sent to Silver arguing Ballmer spent nearly $50 million funding the investigation and cooperated in every way possible.

“Mr. Ballmer’s reputation has been irreparably damaged as he now finds himself embroiled not only in this heavily biased investigation, but in civil litigation, the Aspiration bankruptcy proceeding, and more,” the letter stated. “It seems increasingly likely that Mr. Ballmer will spend years defending himself and the team against a podcaster’s baseless claims.”

Leonard issued a statement denying knowledge of the salary cap violations without contesting the league’s findings.

“I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle and regret the distraction this situation has caused the fans and my family,” Leonard’s statement read. “I entered into my contract with the Clippers as well as the agreements in question in good faith, fully committed to fulfilling my obligations and 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, and those I 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.”

It remains unclear whether Leonard’s trade to Toronto, which was put on hold until the NBA investigation was completed, will be finalized.

The probe was triggered when the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast aired an episode Sept. 3, 2025, detailing the contract Leonard received from Aspiration, a self-described “socially-conscious and sustainable banking services and investment products” firm.

The deal with Leonard came to light in Aspiration’s bankruptcy documents. Joseph Sanberg, co-founder of the company, pleaded guilty in October to federal charges of conspiring to bilk investors out of $248 million and on June 1 was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison.

One of the primary investors in Aspiration was Ballmer, the former longtime CEO of Microsoft whose estimated net worth is $139 billion. He has owned the Clippers since 2014.

Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration in September 2021. A month later, the Clippers announced a $300-million sponsorship deal with the company. Ballmer nearly granted Aspiration naming rights to the team’s new $2-billion arena, but instead chose financial services firm Intuit.

Two years later when Aspiration was experiencing severe financial difficulties, Ballmer invested an additional $10 million and Clippers co-owner Dennis Wong — Ballmer’s former college roommate — invested $1.99 million in Aspiration nine days before Leonard received a $1.75 million payment from the company. Leonard was paid $21 million of the $28 million agreed upon in his contract with Aspiration.

Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptors on June 30 for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and a slew of draft picks, but the deal was put on hold pending the outcome of the investigation. Leonard led the Raptors to the NBA championship in 2019.

Leonard would not talk about the allegations during the 2025-26 NBA season because the investigation was ongoing and brushed it off during media day in September 2025.

“None of us did … wrongdoing and, yeah, that’s it,” he said. “We invite the investigation.”

Asked if he performed any endorsement work for Aspiration, Leonard said, “I understand the full contract and services that I had to do. Like I said, I don’t deal with conspiracies or the click-bait analysts or journalism that’s going on.”

Players are allowed to have endorsement and business deals, but at issue was whether the Clippers participated in arranging the side deal beyond simply introducing Aspiration executives to Leonard. Doing so would be a violation of Article 13 of the NBA collective bargaining agreement.

ESPN reported Aug. 17 that NBA investigators had met with Ballmer and other Clippers officials in an attempt to agree to findings before the case went to arbitration. Although ESPN wrote that three sources told reporters the NBA found no evidence showing Ballmer funneled money through team sponsors to pay Leonard to circumvent the salary cap, the NBA immediately pushed back, releasing a statement that read “ESPN’s article regarding the L.A. Clippers investigation — for which the NBA declined to cooperate — contains numerous and significant inaccuracies. The results in this matter will be made clear once the investigation is concluded.”

In his only public comments since the salary cap circumvention accusations first surfaced, Ballmer told ESPN in September 2025 that he was “conned” by Sanberg and Aspiration. He also said he knew nothing of the endorsement deal between the company and Leonard.

“We were done with Kawhi, we were done with Aspiration,” Ballmer said. “The deals were all locked and loaded. Then, they did request to be introduced to Kawhi, and under the rules, we can introduce our sponsors to our athletes. We just can’t be involved.”

Ballmer cannot wipe his hands clean of Aspiration yet. He was added as a defendant in a civil lawsuit against Sanberg and others associated with Aspiration — renamed Catona Climate in 2025 just before the bankruptcy filing — brought by 11 investors in the company. Ballmer and other defendants are accused of fraud and aiding and abetting fraud, with the plaintiffs seeking at least $50 million in damages.

Here is the NBA’s investigation into allegations the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The NBA handed down sweeping penalties to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, team executives, the team and Kawhi Leonard following an
investigation. The Clippers said in a statement that they “vehemently reject the NBA’s findings” and vowed to challenge them.

Read the full report here:

Premier League breaks its own record as four of its 11 most expensive signings have arrived in this transfer window.

The English Premier League displayed its financial power once again by smashing the summer transfer window record for the amount spent by its clubs on new players.

It had only set the previous record last year.

The spree continued deep into the final hours of the window, which shut on Tuesday, with several big-money deals completed before the 11pm (22:00 GMT) deadline for signings by English clubs.

Approximately 38 percent of the Premier League deals were made between the clubs from within that competition, up from 30 percent last year’s summer transfer window.

Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at major takeaways from the 2026-27 transfer window:

How much did Premier League clubs spend for the 2026-27 season?

A total of 3.46 billion pounds ($4.67bn) was dished out by England’s top-flight clubs, with 475 million pounds ($640.1m) being spent on deadline day itself, up from 391 million pounds ($526.7m) on the same day last year.

During the last summer transfer window, the combined spending of the league’s 20 clubs breached the 3 billion pounds ($4.05bn) barrier for the first time, while this year’s figure dwarfed the 1.13 billion pounds ($1.52bn) spent five years ago.

What were the most expensive Premier League and La Liga signings?

Manchester City topped the list when they spent 125 million pounds ($168.7m) on signing Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea.

He’s the first player to be transferred twice for figures upwards of 100 million pounds ($134.7m), and his deal equalled the amount spent on Aleksander Isak when he moved from Newcastle United to Liverpool during the last summer transfer window.

Liverpool paid a close second 123 million pounds ($166m) to sign France forward Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain.

Chelsea followed with 117 million pounds ($158m) spent on bringing England international Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge, while Manchester City dished out 116 million pounds ($156.6m) for midfielder Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest.

Which clubs spent the most money on summer transfers?

Manchester City’s signing of Fernandez capped the whopping 458 million pounds ($618.2m) spent as new manager Enzo Maresca assembled his first squad, which includes Moroccan midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi for 86 million pounds ($116.2m).

It was a new Premier League record that surpassed the 415 million pounds (560.3m) paid by Liverpool last year.

Chelsea also spent heavily, shelling out 349 million pounds ($471.1m) to back new boss Xabi Alonso.

Tottenham splashed out 303 million pounds ($409m) as they rebuild after two successive seasons close to being relegated.

Promoted trio Ipswich, Coventry City and Hull City spent more than a combined 400 million pounds ($539.9m) to prepare themselves for life in the top flight.

Sunderland landed highly rated Belgian winger Malick Fofana, 21, from Olympique Lyonnais in a reported 30 million pounds ($40.5m) deal after beating Crystal Palace to his signature.

Tottenham Hotspur also broke their club transfer record to sign Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United in a deal that could reach 100 million pounds ($134.9m).

Why did Julian Alvarez, Folarin Balogun and Lamine Camara fail to join a new club?

Some deals failed to go through on deadline day.

British media reported that Everton’s move for Folarin Balogun collapsed after the US striker decided against proceeding with the transfer, while Senegal midfielder Lamine Camara remained at Monaco after his reported 47.1 million pounds ($63.5m) move to Chelsea fell through.

Julian Alvarez’s dream of playing for Barcelona never materialised after Atletico held onto him despite strong interest from Barcelona and Arsenal.

Atletico chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin made his feelings quite clear about ⁠⁠Barcelona last week and ⁠⁠said Alvarez would never be sold to them.

“There has not been, and there will not be any negotiation with them [Barcelona] regarding Alvarez’s transfer,” Atletico’s board of directors said in the statement.

“Atletico de Madrid is open to standard transfer market negotiations when conducted in a professional, ethical and respectful manner,” the statement added.

Following a four-season absence from the WSL, Birmingham are back, having won Women’s Super League 2 last season.

The Blues edged a thrilling title fight with Palace and Charlton, clinching the trophy on goal difference by winning at The Valley on final day.

They showed quality going forward and in defence, scoring the second-most goals and conceding the second-fewest.

They also finished with the league’s best goal difference, while striker Lily Crosthwaite picked up her award for WSL 2 player of the year last week.

Among six new signings, head coach Amy Merricks has recruited experienced centre-back Millie Turner, who made 145 WSL appearances in eight seasons at Manchester United, has two England caps and is the new Blues captain.

She will play alongside talented 23-year-old Neve Herron, who was named in the WSL 2 Team of the Year.

“There’s going to be challenges, there’s going to be moments, highs and lows, but come that first game of the season, we’re going to be ready,” Herron told BBC Sport.

This summer, 35% of deals involving a transfer fee have been from one Premier League club to another, which is an increase from last year, when the figure was 30%.

That then increases to 44% in instances where Premier League clubs have bought players from lower down the English football pyramid.

On top of that, the Premier League net spend remains over £1bn for this window – by far the most in Europe – despite many of the biggest sales this summer coming from the English league too. Bundesliga and Ligue 1 clubs have received more in transfer fees than they have spent.

Aside from French-based duo Barcola and Bouaddi, the majority of major signings made by Premier League clubs this month have been from rival clubs in the same division.

They include England team-mates Rogers and Anderson, while Newcastle sold Tonali to Spurs and Guimaraes to Arsenal.

Manchester United snapped up Baleba from Brighton after a 12-month chase to aid their midfield revamp, while Tottenham‘s recruitment of Fernandes and Savio is in the same category.

But why are English clubs buying each other’s players more than ever this summer instead of shopping abroad for the biggest deals?

One reason could be the temptation for players who are proven in the Premier League.

Many of last season’s big-money signings – with a good chunk of them coming from the Bundesliga – failed to meet expectations or justify their transfer fee.

There have also been deals this summer involving the same clubs, possibly with accounting in mind, with Chelsea and Villa selling players to each other.

And there is also a feeling that teams abroad increase the transfer fees they are asking for when English teams – with all their TV riches – show interest in their players.