Clippers Will Appeal NBA Punishment, 'Vehemently Reject' Findings from Kawhi Leonard Investigation

The Los Angeles Clippers plan to appeal the NBA's significant list of punishments the league announced Wednesday following an investigation into the franchise and Kawhi Leonard.

The Clippers released a statement that said they "vehemently reject" the league's decision:

"We vehemently reject the NBA's findings, which are the result of a heavily biased investigation seeking to justify a predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence. What the league told us privately differs from what it announced today publicly, and they have not held themselves close to the standard Commissioner Silver set at the start of this investigation to ensure its fairness and accuracy.  

"For the past year, we cooperated fully and in good faith and we will now fight just as hard to demonstrate our innocence.  

"We intend to vigorously challenge these findings and penalties through every avenue available to us and look forward to an ethical and impartial arbitration process."

The team also sent NBA commissioner Adam Silver a lengthy letter:

It should be noted the NBA does not have a formal appeal or arbitration process the franchise can use for this situation:

According to the NBA's statement, the Clippers engaged in "a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations" that included "violating the salary cap circumvention rules contained in the league's Collective Bargaining Agreement."

It also said Leonard and his then-business manager, Dennis Robertson, "violated the circumvention rules by pressuring the Clippers to assist him in obtaining off-court income opportunities, successfully obtaining those opportunities, and failing to reimburse payments by the Clippers for personal expenses."

Here is the full list of CBA rules the NBA said the Clippers broke:

"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," Silver said in the announcement. "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."

Those penalties included a $30 million fine for the Clippers, the forfeiture of five first-round draft picks (one each in 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033), a $700,000 fine for Leonard, a one-year suspension from all league and team activities for Clippers governor Steve Ballmer, and a sixth-month suspension without pay for Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank.

Leonard also issued a statement through his agent, Harrison Gaines, that said, in part, "I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle and regret the distraction this situation has caused the fans and my family."

Los Angeles agreed to trade the seven-time All-Star to the Toronto Raptors this offseason, although that move was paused during the investigation.