2x NBA Champion Kenny Smith Gets Brutally Honest About Clippers’ Punishment
· Yahoo Sports
The Los Angeles Clippers are still reeling from the NBA's announcement of the ultimate punishment to come from the NBA's investigation into the Clippers' attempt at salary cap circumvention for Kawhi Leonard through an endorsement deal with Aspiration, a now-defunct banking company, and some reactions have been less sympathetic than others.
The punishment doled about by the NBA is seemingly the most severe for this kind of offense in league history, with the Clippers being required to forfeit five first-round picks, owner Steve Ballmer and director of business operations Gillian Zucker both being suspended for one year, president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank being suspended for six months and Ballmer being personally fined $30 million.
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LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer watches against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Kirby Lee-Imagn ImagesThe investigation lasted just shy of a full year, prompted by a report from Pablo Torre detailing the claims that Leonard's deal with Aspiration, initiated by his then-manager Dennis Robertson, was used primarily to funnel Leonard extra money outside of the bounds of the salary cap.
Kenny Smith Weighs InThe Clippers maintained their innocence throughout the process and there still remains the possibility that Ballmer could challenge the verdict through a third-party arbitration process, but now that the punishment has been announce and the Clippers' guilt all-but confirmed by the investigation, there has been no shortage of figures in the basketball world weighing in on the verdict.
LA Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank watches in the first half against the San Antonio Spurs at Intuit Dome. Kirby Lee-Imagn ImagesFormer NBA champion Kenny Smith, who played 10 seasons in the NBA, is one of those figures and it's safe to say that Smith isn't heartbroken for the Clippers.
"You're vehemently cheating. You're not just toeing the line. You're actually cheating and you're cheating at a high level. You're circumventing the salary cap. You're giving yourself an unfair advantage that no one else has, and you have to have severe penalties for that or other people will say, 'Well we can do it,'" Smith said in an interview with TMZ.
Kenny’s Young Stars general manager Kenny Smith during introductions before the 2025 NBA All Star Game at Chase Center. Cary Edmondson-Imagn ImagesThe Issues of CheatingSmith's sentiment is clearly on the side of the NBA in this matter and his comments to TMZ even carry the feeling of a personal offense at the Clippers' actions. Smith also demonstrates a keen awareness of what this kind of punishment will do to the Clippers, going on to say that it's "probably going to cripple the franchise for the next five to seven years."
Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer reacts after defeating the Los Angeles Lakers at Intuit Dome. Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn ImagesA punishment at this scale is something that the NBA has never truly seen before, nor was the scale of the investigation itself something that the NBA had ever seen before.
Cheating, or at least an attempt to bend rules and get ahead, is always going to be a polarizing issue in spots, no matter what the actual attempt to cheat actually is, and in Smith's eyes, Ballmer and the Clippers got exactly what was coming to them, as harsh as the punishment itself seems.