One NBA Team Owner Finally Speaks Out About Steve Ballmer After Clippers Punishment

Steve Ballmer's history with the NBA's circumvention rules goes back further than this year's record-breaking punishment. Back in 2015, the league fined the Clippers $250,000 over a Lexus endorsement pitch to DeAndre Jordan that Ballmer himself called "inadvertent."

For weeks, not a single fellow owner said a word publicly. Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith just broke that silence. Speaking to Front Office Sports, Smith didn't shy away from addressing the situation.

"Steve is a standup individual first and foremost," Smith said. "This game is tricky, this game is hard, and obviously we have rules, and the NBA's gotta do it, and I'm glad he accepted it, and we all can just turn the page and move on."

"But it's not the first time this has happened in the league, but these rules have to mean anything," he continued. "As owners, we're held to a pretty high standard comparatively... I think the NBA is way better with him."

The comments arrive weeks after the league hit the Clippers with the harshest penalty in its history. It was over a salary cap circumvention case tied to Kawhi Leonard's now-defunct $28 million endorsement deal with Aspiration. Ballmer was suspended for a full year, the franchise was fined $30 million, and Los Angeles was stripped of five future first-round picks.

In his statement on Sunday, Steve Ballmer struck a notably different tone than his earlier denials. He said that he had "sincere regrets" and wanted to "apologize to our fans, employees, and my fellow NBA team owners for the distraction and distress this matter has caused."

The Clippers are now focused on moving forward, absorbing the loss of draft capital and preparing for Ballmer's season away from team activities. Smith's remarks suggested that the wider ownership group isn't looking to distance itself from him. If anything, the take appeared to be that once the penalty was accepted, most of the league was ready to close the book on the saga alongside him.