NBA Suspends Steve Ballmer For Trying To Turn Clippers Into Endorsement Bermuda Triangle

KEY POINTS

•In September 2023, Steve Ballmer denied Clippers involvement in a suspicious $28 million endorsement deal for Kawhi Leonard.
•On July 19, 2024, NBA suspended Ballmer for one year, fined the team $30 million, and took away five future draft picks.
•An NBA-commissioned 35-page investigation by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz concluded Ballmer’s denial was 'inaccurate' and the Clippers' president’s claim 'clearly false.'

Last September, Steve Ballmer, ex-Microsoft emperor and current Clippers overlord, emphatically denied any Clippers involvement in an eyebrow-raising $28 million 'endorsement' deal for star Kawhi Leonard that suspiciously included no actual endorsing. Fast forward to July 19, 2024, when the NBA drops the hammer: Ballmer gets a one-year suspension, Clippers forfeit five future draft picks, and stash a $30 million fine in the NBA’s piggy bank. The league's 35-page report by elite law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz bluntly calls Ballmer 'inaccurate (at best)' and Clippers' prez 'clearly false.' Meanwhile, fans marvel at this costly lesson on how not to sponsor your star.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

Steve Ballmer’s $28M endorsement deal was basketball’s version of ‘trust me, this is legit’ – now the NBA gives him the corporate timeout of a lifetime.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

If stepping on your own Clippers’ draft picks was a sport, Steve Ballmer would be MVP by now.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

NBA’s report calls Ballmer ‘inaccurate at best,’ which sounds like the polite way of saying ‘you’re full of it.’

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