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Late Sunday night, 11 days after the NBA handed down a yearlong ban for Steve Ballmer, fined him $30 million, and docked the Clippers five first-round draft picks, one of the world’s richest men waved the white flag.
“This has been a very difficult time for everybody associated with the Clippers, and for that, I have sincere regrets,” Ballmer posted on social media. “I want to apologize to our fans, employees, and my fellow NBA team owners for the distraction and distress this matter has caused, for which I accept responsibility as principal owner.”
Two minutes after Ballmer, the Clippers posted the same statement. Ballmer, who Forbes lists as the 15th richest person in the world with a $126 billion net worth, said the Clippers are “committing to put this chapter behind us.”
The chapter he’s referring to is the league’s finding that Ballmer’s Clippers circumvented the salary cap to pay Kawhi Leonard more than allowed under NBA rules. A yearlong investigation by the NBA’s law firm, Wachtell Lipton, determined that podcaster Pablo Torre was onto something when he reported on Sept. 3, 2025 that Ballmer had arranged a “no-show” job for Leonard with since-failed environmental start-up Aspiration worth millions of dollars.
The law firm found that the issues went deeper than Aspiration. It determined the Clippers worked with four companies to get Leonard more money: Aspiration, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics, and Lockton Insurance. Leonard received a relatively light punishment in the form of a $700,000 fine, which he has accepted.
Ballmer was initially resolute in the wake of the NBA’s findings, saying the Clippers would fight to “demonstrate our innocence” using “every avenue available to us.”
But the landscape changed late last week when the New York Times reported that the U.S. Department of Justice has launched a probe into the situation. The investigation is in its earliest stages.
Former DOJ trial attorney Michael Weinstein told Front Office Sports on Friday that, given the apparent government probe, his advice to the Clippers would be to “batten down the hatches.”
“Everything the Clippers were threatening to do, thumping their chest and going after the NBA to be disruptive and challenge the report, their lawyers are likely telling them, ‘hold on, let’s sit tight,’” said Weinstein, who now works at law firm Cole Schotz. “If they go on offense against the NBA, everything they do becomes fodder for the government in its investigation.”
The Clippers are doing exactly what he suggested. According to Ballmer, the team has “communicated to the NBA that we are complying with the penalties assessed by the league, have paid the fine, and are moving forward.”
“While there are still disagreements concerning the findings in the report, this is not where I want to focus,” Ballmer wrote. “Team owners should support, not distract.”
He expressed confidence in the team’s ability to compete despite the suspensions and depleted draft assets, saying “we will continue to build our team and invest in our community. The confidence of our fans is our priority. With our talented roster, outstanding staff and clear vision, I am certain that we will compete at the highest level and be an organization our fans can be proud of.”
The planned trade that would see Leonard sent back to the Toronto Raptors, where he won the championship in 2019, has not yet been completed. The deal would see Leonard end up in Toronto, with the Clippers receiving Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, 2 first-round picks, one pick swap, and two second-round picks.
The decision to accept the punishment comes ahead of this week’s NBA board of governors meeting, at which it is unclear who will represent the Clippers given Ballmer’s suspension. The team’s alternate governor is Dennis Wong, who was named in Torre’s reporting as someone who also invested money in Aspiration while the company was financially struggling to make payments to Leonard. Wong was not mentioned in the Wachtell report.
The NBA did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday morning.
