{
  "id": 5218323,
  "title": "The Clippers, Kawhi Leonard and the most damaging swing-and-a-miss in NBA history",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/03/the-clippers-kawhi-leonard-and-the-most-damaging-swing-and-a-miss-in",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-03T01:41:36.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/the-clippers-kawhi-leonard-and-the-most-damaging-swing-and-a-miss-in-nba-history-014136845.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Los Angeles Clippers, under the leadership of Lawrence Frank and guided by superstar Kawhi Leonard, announced a historic signing on July 10, 2019. This move aimed to bring new life to the struggling franchise, with Frank stating, \"This is a historic moment for our organization and our fans.\" However, the deal quickly took a dark turn when the NBA revealed an investigation into alleged salary cap circumvention. The league found \"a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations\" related to off-the-books, off-court endorsement deals for Leonard. In response, the Clippers were penalized with the loss of five first-round picks from 2029 to 2033. The investigation into these violations, conducted by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, highlighted the severity of the Clippers' actions, resulting in a significant sanction from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.",
  "summary": "The Clippers franchise has paid a steep price for bringing aboard Kawhi Leonard in possibly the costliest transaction ever.",
  "key_points": [
    "Los Angeles Clippers sign Kawhi Leonard in historic 2019 deal",
    "NBA investigates alleged salary cap circumvention, misconduct",
    "Clippers penalized with loss of five first-round picks, 2029-2033"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The Clippers' gamble to sign Kawhi Leonard has backfired spectacularly, costing them five first-round picks and exposing a damaging pattern of misconduct that has severely undermined their organisation.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Yahoo Sports",
        "title": "The final cost of Clippers’ 2019 acquisitions of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George after NBA punishment",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/03/the-final-cost-of-clippers-2019-acquisitions-of-kawhi-leonard-and",
        "published": "2026-09-03T05:37:18.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}