The Los Angeles Clippers have been set back several years after the NBA stripped them of five first-round draft picks following the Kawhi Leonard-Aspiration scandal.
The punishment goes beyond their future draft capital, with millions of dollars in fines and suspensions handed down, leading Jason Whitlock to lament the tragic state of the franchise.
Jason Whitlock Stunned by Just How Big a Punishment NBA Dealt Clippers
On Thursday, Whitlock posted a video with the caption, “Steve Ballmer should’ve gotten the ‘Donald Sterling Treatment.’ Proves the NBA HATES its fans.”
Sterling, the Clippers’ previous owner up until 2014, was famously given a lifetime NBA ban for being caught on a leaked audio recording making deeply offensive racist remarks. He was also fined $2.5 million, the maximum amount allowed under the NBA Constitution at the time.
Whitlock wants the NBA to be as harsh to Ballmer as they were to Sterling, rather than make life miserable for LA’s fan base, arguing:
“Steve Ballmer deserved the death penalty. Not Clippers fans. Their franchise is dead for a decade. How many different ways are they going to kick you in your rear end without ever apologizing? These guys are cheating, violating the very essence of competition, and they’re all getting slaps on the wrists.
“$700,000 bill for Kawhi Leonard and no games missed. All of this circumventing of the salary cap? Trust me, it’s widespread. And if you hit Steve Ballmer too hard, Steve Ballmer says, ‘Well, you know they do it here, they do it there. Why am I being singled out? You can’t run me out of this league like you did Donald Sterling.'”
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The NBA did levy a record $30 million fine against Ballmer’s franchise.
They have also suspended him from all NBA activities as the majority owner for one year. Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker has also been suspended for a year, while president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank has been suspended for six months.
The Clippers released a letter addressed to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver challenging the punishments handed down, saying, “We are exploring every legal remedy to address this gross injustice.”
Caught in the middle of this legal whirlwind are the team’s fans.
Clippers fans, while they do have a relatively competitive roster to root for heading into the 2026-27 season with the likes of Darius Garland, Brandon Ingram (pending trade), and Rui Hachimura, will have to swallow the fact that the future of their team remains dicey given the extensive loss of draft capital.
Pablo Torre, who won a Pulitzer Prize in Audio Reporting for bringing LA’s salary cap circumvention to light, has revealed that there is “more to come” from the investigation.
Fans will have their fingers crossed, hoping that no further punishments are levied against their favorite team as time passes.
