By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-09-02 16:51:35
2026年3月6日，周五，在圣安东尼奥弗罗斯特银行中心，圣安东尼奥马刺中锋卢克·科内特 (Luke Kornet)（7号）防守持球推进的洛杉矶快船前锋科怀·伦纳德 (Kawhi Leonard)（2号）。马刺以116-112击败快船。
关于科怀·伦纳德风波的裁决已经出炉，结果对于这位全明星前锋以及他即将告别的老东家而言都极为不利。
联盟周三宣布，一项历时数月的独立调查认定，洛杉矶快船通过为这位35岁的前锋牵线搭桥、与多家球队关系密切的赞助商达成场外代言协议，非法规避了NBA工资帽。
这些赞助商包括Aspiration Partners、Boingo Wireless、达科电子（Daktronics）以及诺顿保险（Lockton Insurance）。
随之而来的处罚力度令人咋舌。
鉴于由沃奇尔·立普顿律师事务所（Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz）主导的调查中所发现的联盟所称的“长期习惯性违规行为”，NBA已对球队老板史蒂夫·鲍尔默 (Steve Ballmer) 处以禁赛一年的处罚，禁止其参与一切联盟及球队活动，并对其罚款3000万美元。
快船将被剥夺多达五个首轮选秀权，分别来自2029、2030、2031、2032和2033年NBA选秀。
快船篮球运营总裁劳伦斯·弗兰克 (Lawrence Frank) 被停职六个月，商业运营总裁吉莉安·扎克 (Gillian Zucker) 则被处以禁赛一年的重罚。
在今年夏天早些时候已被快船同意交易至多伦多的伦纳德被罚款70万美元。
伦纳德的叔叔兼商业经纪人丹尼斯·罗伯逊 (Dennis Robertson) 被禁止在五年内与NBA各球队及其附属机构开展业务或进行任何形式的接触。
“NBA通过劳资协议确立的球员薪酬体系，是联盟为保障球队、球员及广大球迷利益而监管的篮球竞技的基石，”NBA总裁亚当·萧华 (Adam Silver) 在一份声明中表示，“我对公然违反联盟规则的行为，以及快船因管理层和领导力缺失而导致此类不端行为深感失望。处罚的严厉程度反映了违规行为的严重性。”
周三的决议似乎扫清了快船与多伦多完成交易所需的法律障碍，此前该交易因等待调查结果而被联盟叫停。
伦纳德向ESPN发表了一份声明，在声明中他似乎将责任归咎于“核心圈子内部人员”的“判断失误”。
“我当初与快船签订合同以及达成相关协议时均出于诚信，全力履行我的职责，对于任何试图规避工资帽的意图完全不知情，”伦纳德在声明中说道。
“15年来，我的重心一直是为我的家庭、比赛以及与我并肩作战的队友奉献一切，”伦纳德继续说道，“在重返多伦多之际，我将专注于自己所能掌控的事情，结束这一篇章，重新出发。”
快船在他们自己的声明中“强烈”驳斥了NBA的调查结果，称其为“一项带有严重偏见的调查结果，旨在为预设的定论寻找依据”。
“在过去的一年里，我们本着诚信的态度全力配合调查，现在我们将同样全力以赴来证明我们的清白，”快船的声明中写道，“我们打算通过一切可能的途径，对这些调查结果和处罚提出有力申诉。”
伦纳德最初在2011年被马刺于首轮选中，效力圣安东尼奥期间曾两次入选全明星，并帮助球队夺得2014年NBA总冠军，在此期间当选总决赛MVP。
2018年夏天，他在一场不欢而散的风波中被交易至多伦多，这导致伦纳德及其叔叔兼经纪人在部分马刺球迷心中成为了“不受欢迎的人”。
在效力猛龙的唯一一个赛季中，伦纳德再次夺得NBA总冠军并斩获又一座总决赛MVP奖杯，随后于2019年7月以自由球员身份与快船签约。
2021年9月，鲍尔默向绿色金融科技公司Aspiration投资了5000万美元。与此同时，快船宣布与Aspiration达成了一项据报道价值3亿美元的合作协议。
次年4月，伦纳德获得了一份单独的2800万美元代言合同，这引发了联盟办公室的警觉。
这份起初看似异常丰厚的代言合同，很快便成为了NBA历史上影响最深远的工资帽调查案的核心焦点。
到了周三，轮到快船——以及伦纳德——为此付出代价了。
由生成式 AI 翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
查看原文：NBA hits Clippers with heavy sanctions in Kawhi Leonard case
NBA hits Clippers with heavy sanctions in Kawhi Leonard case
San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet (7) defends as LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) carries the ball at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio on Friday, March 6, 2026. The Spurs defeated the Clippers 116-112.
The verdict is in regarding the Kawhi Leonard saga, and the results are not good for the All-Star forward or his soon-to-be former team.
A months-long independent investigation found the Los Angeles Clippers illegally circumvented the NBA salary cap when they facilitated outside endorsement deals for the 35-year-old forward with a collection of team-friendly sponsors, the league announced Wednesday.
Those sponsors were Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics and Lockton Insurance.
The resulting penalties are staggeringly stiff.
Due to what the league called a pattern of misconduct uncovered in the investigation, headed by the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, the NBA has suspended team owner Steve Ballmer from all league and team activities for a year. He has also been fined $30 million.
The Clippers will lose a whopping five first-round draft picks, one each in the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033 NBA Drafts.
Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank has been suspended for six months, with president of business operations Gillian Zucker drawing a one-year ban.
Leonard, who the Clippers agreed to trade to Toronto earlier this summer, has been fined $700,000.
Dennis Robertson, Leonard’s uncle and business manager, has been banned from conducting business or otherwise engaging in NBA teams and their affiliates for a period of five years.
“The NBA’s collectively bargained system for determining player compensation is a fundamental component of the basketball competition that the league oversees for the benefit of the teams and players and ultimately the fans,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “I am deeply disappointed by the flagrant violations of our rules and by the Clippers’ institutional and leadership failures that led to this misconduct. The severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations.”
Wednesday’s resolution would appear to clear the legal hurdles needed to finalize the Clippers’ swap with Toronto, which the league put on hold pending the outcome of the investigation.
Leonard issued a statement to ESPN in which he appeared to blame “people within (his) inner circle” for “lapses in judgment.”
“I entered into my contract with the Clippers as well as the agreements in question in good faith, fully committed to fulfilling my obligations with no knowledge of any intent on anyone’s part to circumvent the salary cap,” Leonard said in the statement.
“For 15 years, my priority has been giving everything to my family, the game, and those I share the court with,” Leonard continued. “As I return to Toronto, I am focused on what I can control, closing this chapter, and moving forward with a clean slate.”
In a statement of their own, the Clippers “vehemently” rejected the NBA’s findings, calling them “the result of a heavily biased investigation seeking to justify a predetermined narrative.”
“For the past year, we cooperated fully and in good faith and we will now fight just as hard to demonstrate our innocence,” the Clippers’ statement read. “We intend to vigorously challenge these findings and penalties through every avenue available to us.”
Originally a first-round pick of the Spurs in 2011, Leonard made two All-Star teams in San Antonio and helped lead the team to the 2014 NBA Championship, being named Finals MVP in the process.
He was traded to Toronto in the summer of summer of 2018 in an acrimonious spilt that bestowed persona non grata status upon Leonard and his uncle/business manager among some segments of Spurs fans.
In his lone season with the Raptors, Leonard won another NBA championship and earned another Finals MVP trophy before signing a free-agent deal with the Clippers in July 2019.
In September of 2021, Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration, a green banking company. At the same time, the Clippers announced a reported $300 million partnership with Aspiration.
The following April, Leonard was awarded a separate $28 million endorsement deal, setting off alarm bells at the league office.
What looked at first like an unusually lucrative endorsement deal would soon become the centerpiece of one of the most consequential salary-cap investigations in NBA history.
Come Wednesday, it was the Clippers’ — and Leonard’s — turn to pay up.
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News
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