Overview
- The Clippers announced Monday that John Gibson will begin immediately as interim CEO and team governor to oversee basketball and business operations and to represent the club at NBA governance meetings.
- The NBA’s independent probe found a pattern of misconduct that included salary-cap circumvention, and on Sept. 2 the league suspended owner Steve Ballmer and president of business operations Gillian Zucker for one year, suspended basketball president Lawrence Frank for six months, fined the club $30 million, and stripped five first-round draft picks.
- Kawhi Leonard was fined $700,000 in the league’s penalties and was traded to the Toronto Raptors in a deal finalized on Sept. 14 that returned Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, a pick swap, and two second-round picks to the Clippers.
- Gibson is a longtime Clippers season-ticket holder and a trial lawyer with more than 35 years of experience who served as the team’s lead antitrust counsel during the 2014 sale, a background the club says will help mend relations with the NBA.
- Losing five first-round picks will limit the Clippers’ ability to build through the draft for years, so Gibson must stabilize operations, manage league relations, and help the team remain competitive until Ballmer’s expected return in 2027.