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NBA commissioner Adam Silver made it clear on Wednesday that the responsibility lies with the league to prove any misconduct in its investigation of the LA Clippers, owner Steve Ballmer, and star forward Kawhi Leonard.
“The burden is on the league if we’re going to discipline a team, an owner, a player or any constituent members of the league,” Silver said at a press conference following the board of governors meetings in New York. “I think as with any process that requires a fundamental sense of fairness, the burden should be on the party that is, in essence, bringing those charges.”
The Clippers are under scrutiny after Leonard allegedly accepted a $28 million endorsement from Aspiration, a now-bankrupt green banking company in which Ballmer had invested. An unnamed former Aspiration employee told podcaster Pablo Torre that the payment “was to circumvent the salary cap.”
Silver emphasized that the league must evaluate “the totality of the evidence” and not act on appearances alone.
“Just by the way those words read, I think as a matter of fundamental fairness, I would be reluctant to act if there was sort of a mere appearance of impropriety,” Silver said. “I think that the goal of a full investigation is to find out if there really was impropriety.”
The investigation is being handled by New York law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, and Silver confirmed there is no set deadline for findings.
“I’ve been around the league long enough in different permutations of allegations and accusations that I’m a big believer in due process and fairness, and we need to now let the investigation run its course,” he said.
Silver also noted that other owners are reserving judgment.
“At least what’s being said to me is a reservation of judgment,” he explained. “think people recognize that that’s what you have a league office for. That’s what you have a commissioner for — someone who is independent of the teams. On one hand, of course, I work collectively for the 30 governors, but I have an independent obligation to be the steward of the brand and the integrity of this league.”
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