Steve Ballmer and the Los Angeles Clippers have been in hot water over the last few weeks. They have been under a lot of spotlight following allegations that they circumvented the salary cap when they signed Kawhi Leonard in 2019.
There’s no telling what the outcome of the situation will be. However, with the investigation still ongoing, the Clippers already have a strong belief of how this will all end for them.
How Confident are Steve Ballmer & the Clippers in Avoiding Punishment?
The Washington Post’s Ben Golliver revealed that Ballmer and the Clippers’ front office are confident they will face no repercussions from the league’s investigation.
“In the Clippers’ front office, the September storm has disrupted business as usual,” Golliver wrote. “According to team executives, who spoke with The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly, Ballmer and his front office are steadfast in their belief that they will be exonerated by the NBA’s investigation, which is being conducted by the Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz law firm.”
For the past month, the Clippers have been battered by reports that found Kawhi Leonard signed an undisclosed four-year, $28 million “no-show” endorsement contract with a defunct company that received millions of dollars from Clippers owners. https://t.co/x0ZGUFTQDX
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 30, 2025
That’s a highly optimistic point of view for the Clippers because, since Pablo Torre first reported their dealings with Leonard in early September, he has only continued to add more and more details with each rebuttal they’ve had.
What Historical Context Does the NBA Have With Salary Cap Violations?
Some of the details have been very damning, but the league makes the final call on investigations like these. They have investigated when teams have broken rules like the Clippers allegedly have, and the league enforced strict ramifications on them when it was confirmed, like what it did to the Minnesota Timberwolves when they found out what they had been doing with Joe Smith.
Of course, the only reason the NBA found out in the first place was that his agents split up. The shady dealings with the Timberwolves and Smith came out because of the lawsuit that was filed with documents that confirmed what the two sides were up to.
Torre is a very well-respected investigative journalist, so he would not have made these allegations without proof. Even so, the Clippers are clearly not rattled by all the heat they’ve gotten for the past few weeks. However, just because they’re confident they won’t be punished does not mean they will be proven right.