Steve Ballmer is accepting the NBA’s punishment for the Los Angeles Clippers’ role in the Kawhi Leonard contract saga.
The Clippers owner released a statement Sunday night saying the team is “complying with the penalties assessed by the league.”
The NBA suspended Ballmer for one year, fined the team $30 million and forced it to forfeit five first-round draft picks while saying the Clippers violated salary-cap circumvention rules in its decision on Sept. 3.
Also, two-time NBA Finals MVP Leonard was hit with a $700,000 penalty, president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank was banned for six months and team president of business operations Gillian Zucker was suspended for one year.
Toronto Raptors fans continue to wait to see if a deal for Leonard is finalized. The Raptors and Clippers agreed to a trade earlier this summer, but Toronto pressed pause on the deal while the NBA was conducting its investigation.
With Leonard not suspended or having his contract voided, the Raptors avoid inheriting an issue that could affect the team on the floor.
Ballmer on Sunday said he has “sincere regrets” and apologized to Clippers fans, employees and fellow NBA team owners.
“We are committing to put this chapter behind us. We have communicated to the NBA that we are complying with the penalties assessed by the league, have paid the fine, and are moving forward,” Ballmer said. “While there are still disagreements concerning the findings in the report, this is not where I want to focus. Team owners should support, not distract.”
Sunday’s statement had a much different tone than the Clippers’ words in the immediate aftermath of the ruling.
“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 team said in that statement. “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 its fairness and accuracy.”
The Clippers also said they would “now fight just as hard to demonstrate our innocence. 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.”