Ballmer says circumvention leading to $250,000 fine was 'inadvertent'
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is basically saying the Clippers accidentally offered DeAndre Jordan a Lexus endorsement.
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After the Los Angeles Clippers were fined $250,000 for violating the league's anti-circumvention rules during their meeting with DeAndre Jordan, owner Steve Ballmer sent an internal memo saying that their circumvention was inadvertent.
From the memo, obtained by Orange County Register's Dan Woike:
Today, the NBA announced it has fined the Team for violating NBA rules in our presentation to DeAndre Jordan on July 2. The League's investigation concluded that the presentation of a potential thrid-party opportunity had no impact on DeAndre's decision to re-sign, and having been a part of the process, I can attest to this fact.
As we, and the basketball world observed, DJ ultimately chose to stay with the Clippers because he felt it was his best opportunity to win a championship, and because of his desire to remain part of the Clippers family.
As I shared with everyone on day one of purchasing the Team, being part of the Clippers family means operating with the highest integrity. We believed we were doing this the right way, and any circumvention was inadvertent. In our effort to support our players in every way possible, we as an organization must be diligent in complying with the CBA.
First, it's weird how Ballmer capitalizes the T in "team."
Second, it's a little hard to believe that the Clippers had no idea they were circumventing any rules. They offered Jordan a $20,000-per-year deal with Lexus as part of their presentation, according to the Los Angeles Times' Brad Turner. While it's understood that big-market teams will try to sell free agents on the fact that there will be huge endorsement deals available to them, it is common knowledge that they're not supposed to get into specifics. Los Angeles did that, and got caught.
