Harshest Punishments In Sports History: Where Does The Clippers Ruling Rank?

The NBA stripped the Clippers of five first-round picks, fined owner Steve Ballmer $30 million and suspended him one year; Kawhi Leonard was ordered to pay $700,000 in restitution and his uncle was banned from NBA business.
The punishment is one of the harshest in pro sports and sits alongside other big penalties like the Astros sign‑stealing punishments, the Saints’ bounty sanctions and SMU’s “death penalty.”
Losing half a decade of draft capital could gut the Clippers’ rebuild — a huge talking point about the team’s short- and long-term outlook.