The LA Clippers have been fined $30m (£22.2m) by the National Basketball Association (NBA) for violating salary rules over the acquisition of star player Kawhi Leonard.
The Clippers will also have to forfeit five first-round draft picks between 2029 and 2033, while owner Steve Ballmer has been suspended from all league and team activities for 12 months for “knowingly seeking to help Mr Leonard obtain off-court income opportunities”.
Two-time NBA champion Leonard has been fined $700,000 (£518,997) by the league.
The team’s president of business operations, Gillian Zucker, has been suspended for one year without pay for providing “misleading statements to investigators”.
The punishments come after the NBA said its month-long investigation “found a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers organisation, a prior offender of the salary-cap circumvention rules”.
More to follow.
More to follow.