Social media reacts to NBA's punishment of Kawhi, Clippers

The NBA punished the Los Angeles Clippers and team owner Steve Ballmer on Wednesday for violating the salary cap circumvention rules in the collective bargaining agreement.

The penalty was unprecedented for an NBA franchise, and naturally, social media chimed in on Kawhi Leonard's messy exit from the Clippers.

First, the former principal owner and current minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks congratulated journalist Pablo Torre, who's credited with uncovering the off-court deals involving Leonard.

More kudos for the intrepid Torre, though under no circumstances do we condone any form of violence, even if "clipped" seems to fit the occasion appropriately.

Ballmer's one-year suspension means there's a free courtside seat up for grabs at the high-tech Intuit Dome. Remember, there are no tough days at the office when you're not allowed to go. Living that WFH lifestyle.

For Clippers fans, banishing the fateful Paul George-Shai Gilgeous-Alexander trade from 2019 from the recesses of their memory has become an impossible task.

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." Abraham Lincoln said that. More poignant than ever, considering Leonard's dubious no-show tree-planting gig.

Quick, somebody put the "This is Fine" meme on the Daktronics scoreboard at the Intuit Dome. The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Daktronics following allegations that it also paid Leonard for a no-show sponsorship deal.

Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter, former Angels chief Arte Moreno, the Lakers' Buss family hierarchy, and Ballmer walk into a bar ... a very expensive bar.

Ballmer, wearing a jacket emblazoned with "security" on the back as a disguise, approaches Leonard on the Toronto Raptors bench during a time-out and throws a bunch of tree saplings in his direction.

For the record, Leonard claims he had "no knowledge of any intent on anyone's part to circumvent the salary cap."

There's very little chance that Clippers fans view this as a "fun fact" at all. Ball don't lie, and neither do the numbers.