[Special] What Would An NBA Death Penalty Look Like? A Clippers Side Story

[ishoy123]

Solution is simple.. disqualify the team from making the playoffs regardless of record as well as well as forfeit draft picks several consecutive years.. That will honestly teach them a lesson not to mess around and force star players to venture elsewhere.

Why is that fair to the other players?

[ImmortalD24]

Solution is simple.. disqualify the team from making the playoffs regardless of record as well as well as forfeit draft picks several consecutive years.. That will honestly teach them a lesson not to mess around and force star players to venture elsewhere.

Why is that fair to the other players?

It’s not about fairness to the players.. players get paid regardless during the regular season.. it’s about sending a message to the owners to not circumvent the salary etc. Also players agents will be less likely to do these things as their stars lose playoff visibility.

[MartyConlonJr]

Voiding Kawhi actually probably helps Ballmer and Clippers at this point.
Forfeiting a couple picks probably just feels to them like the payment they would have given out if they'd had to sign and trade Kawhi to have had the best offer.

Taking away draft picks way down the line just punishes their fans.

It's a hard spot and if they had the balls, forcing Ballmer to sell, fining him max allowable and paying luxury tax for all under the table payments to other teams, voiding Kawhi, making him pay back Aspiration for all earnings, suspending him a year and I assume punishing any other co-conspirators being punished, suspended or fined (e.g. Lawrence Frank, Dennis Wong) puts the punishment on the people in cahoots, and leaves the fans with a possibly better team (No Kawhi contract, less pick impact, new owner).

[Lockdown504090]

Solution is simple.. disqualify the team from making the playoffs regardless of record as well as well as forfeit draft picks several consecutive years.. That will honestly teach them a lesson not to mess around and force star players to venture elsewhere.

Why is that fair to the other players?

It’s not about fairness to the players.. players get paid regardless during the regular season.. it’s about sending a message to the owners to not circumvent the salary etc. Also players agents will be less likely to do these things as their stars lose playoff visibility.

yes, it is about fairness to the players, thats why they have a collective bargaining agreement.

[Lockdown504090]

Voiding Kawhi actually probably helps Ballmer and Clippers at this point.
Forfeiting a couple picks probably just feels to them like the payment they would have given out if they'd had to sign and trade Kawhi to have had the best offer.

Taking away draft picks way down the line just punishes their fans.

It's a hard spot and if they had the balls, forcing Ballmer to sell, fining him max allowable and paying luxury tax for all under the table payments to other teams, voiding Kawhi, making him pay back Aspiration for all earnings, suspending him a year and I assume punishing any other co-conspirators being punished, suspended or fined (e.g. Lawrence Frank, Dennis Wong) puts the punishment on the people in cahoots, and leaves the fans with a possibly better team (No Kawhi contract, less pick impact, new owner).

the warriors got 4 players to hold off on signing deals from july 1 to september 30th, in some cases forgoing better deals. I dont even think the owners want a precedent like yours to be set.

[Lunartic]

Just make the excess cash they paid Kawhi apply to the cap for the duration of his contract, it's a simple and fair punishment

[Darthlukey]

Did Steve Ballmer purposely funnel money to Kawhi Leonard, circumventing the salary cap, and if so, why did they do it? That's what the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz are trying to determine, and if there were deals being made under the table, the NBA could nail the Clippers with the harshest of penalties since the Joe Smith salary cap scandal of 2000. There are a few issues with handing down these punishments:

1. Lack of available draft picks to take
2. Ballmer's riches
3. Clippers have cooperated with the league in their investigation
4. Timberwolves still made the conference finals while penalized

It's possible the Clippers could still get off with a slap on the wrist. Therefore, there may only be one thing that can work, a punishment that has never been done before in the history of professional sports: taking their season away.

Known colloquially in college sports as the Death Penalty, the NCAA has only used it five times in its history, with each use leaving the offending universities crippled. No professional sports league has ever attempted taking a team's season away, not even the MLB, NHL or NFL. Having to cancel one team's entire season could have massive catastrophic results around the sports world. It was hinted in an article on the Toronto Sun that some NBA personnel would want for that grand punishment to happen, though journalist Ryan Wolstat had to make clear the Clippers will not get such a ban, even if social media argues otherwise.

This post, I will be looking at the season cancellation portion of the Death Penalty. What if the NBA had to implement an NCAA Death Penalty, how would it work, its ramifications, and how it would affect the Clippers.

SMU

The most notable instance of the Death Penalty was used in 1987 on Southern Methodist University (SMU) for paying recruits to field competitive football teams. SMU dominated the Southwest Conference from 1981 to 1987 with a combined five losses, including an undefeated season in 1982. With the aid of a slush fund, new recruits arrived to ride at the Pony Express at unusually high amounts. David Stanley was paid $25,000, and Reggie Dupard got a car. SMU were repeat offenders, having been caught the first time in 1980 and put on probation, barred from appearing in bowl games. A second sanction in 1985 warranted an emergency meeting to introduce the Death Penalty, with SMU voting against its implementation. When the university was caught for the third time in 1987 - on tape via WFAA - three strikes, yer out! NCAA banned SMU from competing in the 1987 season.

NBA & NCAA Vs. Los Angeles Clippers

From the day the scandal broke out in early September, what I learned from social media is that for a punishment to be effective, it must be instant, damaging and harmful. I've gathered a lot of interesting responses to the types of punishment Clippers could get, some serious (ex. banning them from the postseason), some funny (ex. being forced to bring back Paul George). I agree that it has to be fitting, but you have to be sure that the punishment also goes after the team's greatest strength and their fail safes.

It all starts with the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander trade, Clippers trading a then-record seven 1st round picks for Paul George as a condition to signing Leonard. The cupboard would be depleted further in the James Harden trade, leaving them with no 1st rounders until sometime in the 2030's. Even with 2nd round picks to take, they haven't always struck gold on them, for they have been the worst at drafting ever since trading away SGA.

In late September, there was a new report that Clippers want Leonard gone, be it by trade or the NBA voiding his contract. It would be extra sweet if Leonard was suspended from the league for a year to prevent the Lakers or even the Thunder from using him against the Clippers in a psychological way.

Steve Ballmer is the richest owner in all of sports, so fines have no effect on him. Suspending Ballmer might work, but you cannot deny his enthusiastic hardcore passion; he'll always find a way to cheer for the Clippers even when he's not there. The ongoing investigation is now including 2019, meaning general manager Lawrence Frank could also be subjected to some kind of penalty. Keep in mind, Clippers were scrutinized for sending scouts to follow Leonard and Doc Rivers was fined for his comments on comparing Leonard to Michael Jordan, which all happened under his watch. A few lawsuits also popped up throughout the Leonard era. Clippers are also repeat offenders: in 2015, the franchise was fined for unauthorized endorsements in their pitch to DeAndre Jordan.

Finally, the Clippers are a resilient bunch. They have a history of coming back from games where the odds are at a scant 0.01%, be it from 25 point deficits or when odds makers have them out of the playoffs completely. They are also the only team to come back from down 2-0 twice in the same playoffs, and coach Tyronn Lue is the only coach to pull off a 3-1 comeback in the NBA Finals. When the Timberwolves were sanctioned in 2000 with fines, a Glen Taylor suspension, Kevin McHale taking a leave of absence, five picks forfeited, and Joe Smith's contract voided, they were still allowed to chase awards and make the playoffs; Clippers can do the same. Maybe no punishment will work against them, maybe it might have to be an NCAA Death Penalty.

The NBA Death Penalty

Here is how I think an NBA Death Penalty would work:

1. The team is banned from competition for one entire year. All players on the team will have their contracts voided.
2. All tax penalties are applied. That would be the 2nd apron, luxury taxes, and sanctioned fines.
3. All untouched and/or future draft picks, 1st and 2nd, are forfeited for the next two years.
4. Upon returning from suspension, the team is barred from the draft, the postseason and awards for one year.

By taking a whole season away, you hit the Clippers at their strongest point: competitive relevancy. They are looking to rebuild for the next era, and a great showing in the next two years could give them a leg up into signing superstar free agents. Without that, Clippers will be operating a year behind and forced to assemble a team out of scraps. Without youth to complement the veterans behind a combination of forfeited picks and bans towards the draft and the postseason, they will have nothing to show for it except being easy wins to opposing teams and acting as the third wheel in trade discussions. Clearly, an NCAA Death Penalty would ruin the Clippers for a decade. If Commissioner Adam Silver had that power, it would prove that he is looking after the league's best interests and not play favorites.

It was hard for me to find a con that isn't about money, but I'll give it a shot. The NBA is a business; they rent arenas, have TV deals, and make sponsorships. If that one team were to get the penalty, the league would take a financial hit by way of missed games from that team. The sanctity of an 82-game season would be disrupted; what a headache that would be for the NBA schedulers. Clippers would not welcome a season cancellation, not with their Intuit Dome that is hosting their first ever All-Star Game. They could take a postseason ban instead and still be allowed to compete for the good of the league, keeping their All-Star Weekend intact. Certain teams would still want to face the Clippers anyway to advance their postseason purposes, and it would be a disservice to not have them in the lineup. Another idea I considered was reducing the Clipper's season from 82 to 66 or 50, both numbers familiar to the NBA Lockout. That would give the Clippers no margin of error, needing to win at least 33 or 25 games respectively to be above .500 while having a shot at the postseason.

Remember, this is a what-if. Do you think the NBA would ever trot out an NCAA Death Penalty? When you apply this to the Clippers, is it the only punishment that could work? If not, what would be the best type of punishment that would affect only the Clippers and not the NBA as a whole?

Furthermore, why does the NCAA Death Penalty work on colleges but not on professional sports?

An insightful and well written post. However of all the ideas regarding the death sentence, you cant void the contracts of players who arent involved in the scandal. NBPA would never allow it and it isnt fair to them. In Australia the Melbourne Storm seriously breached Salary cap and had to play out the season, but be credited with zero wins. No draft in rugby league to finishing last is never a good thing. The untainted players get to keep playing and getting paid, the guilty parties remain punished

[oversteerdawg]

Nothing Burger! Cook em Klaw.

Read on Twitter

Obviously if the person being investigated said no wrongdoing was done, that should be the end of it.

[LordCovington33]

Read it up till the bit about players’ contracts being void. Nonsensical and so I stopped reading after that.

[Mephariel]

Solution is simple.. disqualify the team from making the playoffs regardless of record as well as well as forfeit draft picks several consecutive years.. That will honestly teach them a lesson not to mess around and force star players to venture elsewhere.

Why is that fair to the other players?

It’s not about fairness to the players.. players get paid regardless during the regular season.. it’s about sending a message to the owners to not circumvent the salary etc. Also players agents will be less likely to do these things as their stars lose playoff visibility.

It is though. Why the heck would I want to play for a team that has no chance to make the playoffs? That is FU.

Also, the CBA doesn't even allow for this punishment.

[Haldi]

An easier punishment would be to just force the Clippers to give Kawhi a full 5 year max after his current contract expires

Rewarding dirty, greedy player in the process? Kawhi needs to be punished severly too - so no other player/agent thinks it's okay to ask for this kind of considerations and that the team will take a fall for it if this ever comes out.

Agree, part of his new deal is he has to do standup before and after each game. Min 30 minutes and the fans get to heckle with no punishment.

So in this scenario, even the fans are punished along with Kawhi and the Clippers, by having to endure Kawhi standup for 30 minutes. At least they get to heckle him I guess.

[jvsimonetti0514]

Multiple year suspension of both Kawhi, Ballmer, and whomever else was aware of the scheme in Clippers organization. Life time ban for mister uncle Dennis Roberson. Should be the minimum. I would want ballmer to sell his team and kawhi’s contract to be voided but I’m not sure how realistic it was for the league to do that. The clippers should lose whatever picks they’ve got available to them for the rest of the decade and after 2030 their picks should be locked in the 20’s no matter what their record is.

[dhsilv2]

Rewarding dirty, greedy player in the process? Kawhi needs to be punished severly too - so no other player/agent thinks it's okay to ask for this kind of considerations and that the team will take a fall for it if this ever comes out.

Agree, part of his new deal is he has to do standup before and after each game. Min 30 minutes and the fans get to heckle with no punishment.

So in this scenario, even the fans are punished along with Kawhi and the Clippers, by having to endure Kawhi standup for 30 minutes. At least they get to heckle him I guess.

Bro if you get an hour a night to heckle, you're winning!

[Bucks4005]

I think at least Kawhis contract should be voided and if he is personally suspended along with Ballmer for at least a year, and a cap hit for the next 2 season for what the contract would have been and that’d be enough for me. A $50 dollar cap hit with this roster probably puts them in the luxury tax for 2 seasons at least kinda punishes them for 2 years, but after that I wouldn’t wanna see a death penalty too harsh. Voiding Kawhis contract I feel is incentive enough for other teams to say “this isn’t worth it if we get caught” and voiding the contact I feel basically kills Kawhis future potential earnings as signing him might be a PR nightmare fir a team and any interaction or deal will already be under future scrutiny so that’s punishment enough IMO if then.eagye does t want to go nuclear on Ballmer and the Clippers.

[Invictus88]

Just make the excess cash they paid Kawhi apply to the cap for the duration of his contract, it's a simple and fair punishment

It's not though. When the next team with an unscrupulous owner is faced with a similar situation why wouldn't they try the same thing? The only recourse if found out is paying what you would have paid up front at a later date.

Heck. You could take that extra money you would have paid, invest it in something low risk and if you end up paying you've still made a profit in the meantime.

The punishment has to be stern enough to make future bad actors want to avoid making bad choices. Yours is not that.

[Invictus88]

To the OP:
No way the NBAPA allows all of the contracts to be voided and for the Clippers not to play games from the players side of things.

How about a real death penalty:

1. No TV Broadcast for 3 years. Clippers games are blacked out. Everywhere.
2. No draft picks for the equivalent of the next 4 years. If existing picks are already gone then equivalent picks from nearest future years are forfeited in their place.
3. No ability to exceed cap in any way, shape or form for the next 7 years; with the only exception being league minimum deals. Current contracts already on the books are an exception to this rule.
4. Kawhi deal is voided. (He is banned from the league for 3 years); Clippers pay luxury taxes for all of the years leading up to the current year for the full value in which Kawhi was compensated.
5. Ballmer and all others in the know are banned from attending games for 5 years. Yes, this means that for 3 years Ballmer should not be able to watch his team play.
6. Ballmer is obviously barred from any type of owner-related committees (Permanently) or activities. He loses the right to vote on league decisions etc for 5 years.
7. Penalties 1-4 are transferrable if the team is sold to another party. (No Mr. Ballmer. You will not make a fortune in profits selling the team)

Remember: Ballmer and the Clippers are repeat offenders when it comes to cap circumvention now.

No broadcast for 3 years? So lose TV money and punish the fans for it? How does that make sense?

Making the team lose TV money and relevance is kind of the point. There is literally no way to avoid 'punishing the fans' if you are talking about a death penalty. So you might want to sit this thread out

[Lunartic]

Just make the excess cash they paid Kawhi apply to the cap for the duration of his contract, it's a simple and fair punishment

It's not though. When the next team with an unscrupulous owner is faced with a similar situation why wouldn't they try the same thing? The only recourse if found out is paying what you would have paid up front at a later date.

Heck. You could take that extra money you would have paid, invest it in something low risk and if you end up paying you've still made a profit in the meantime.

The punishment has to be stern enough to make future bad actors want to avoid making bad choices. Yours is not that.

Okay, what about ritualistically executing Kawhi and every member of the Clippers incl training staff and OKC fans?

[Invictus88]

Just make the excess cash they paid Kawhi apply to the cap for the duration of his contract, it's a simple and fair punishment

It's not though. When the next team with an unscrupulous owner is faced with a similar situation why wouldn't they try the same thing? The only recourse if found out is paying what you would have paid up front at a later date.

Heck. You could take that extra money you would have paid, invest it in something low risk and if you end up paying you've still made a profit in the meantime.

The punishment has to be stern enough to make future bad actors want to avoid making bad choices. Yours is not that.

Okay, what about ritualistically executing Kawhi and every member of the Clippers incl training staff and OKC fans?

What is wrong with you?

[Lunartic]

It's not though. When the next team with an unscrupulous owner is faced with a similar situation why wouldn't they try the same thing? The only recourse if found out is paying what you would have paid up front at a later date.

Heck. You could take that extra money you would have paid, invest it in something low risk and if you end up paying you've still made a profit in the meantime.

The punishment has to be stern enough to make future bad actors want to avoid making bad choices. Yours is not that.

Okay, what about ritualistically executing Kawhi and every member of the Clippers incl training staff and OKC fans?

What is wrong with you?

It's called humor, try not being such a sourpuss and perhaps refrain from this quasi forum-policing as evidenced by your previous post to another user

So you might want to sit this thread out

You might want to relax, no one really cares if Kawhi gets paid under the table. I'm certain most NBA star player get perks/money/benefits that aren't reported. Access to jets, free meals, hooking their family up with fake jobs ala Giannis, etc.

[Effigy]

Probably will look like a $25,000 fine and loss of a second round draft pick(s)