Clippers Name Attorney John Gibson Interim CEO as Steve Ballmer's NBA Ban Begins

The NBA fined the Clippers $30 million, stripped five first-round draft picks, and suspended owner Steve Ballmer for one year over a salary-cap circumvention scheme tied to a since-voided endorsement arrangement involving Kawhi Leonard. Since then, the team has been operating without its owner at the wheel. On Monday, September 21, the Clippers filled that gap, hiring Los Angeles attorney John S. Gibson as interim CEO and governor, according to the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, and CBS News.

Ballmer nominated Gibson himself. The NBA, under commissioner Adam Silver, approved the appointment, according to ClutchPoints and Basketball News, which cited NBA insider Shams Charania. The league let Ballmer pick his own stand-in rather than imposing one from outside, a sign the NBA wants this handled as an internal succession, not a takeover.

Gibson isn't new to the organization. He served as lead antitrust counsel for the Clippers when Ballmer bought the team from Donald Sterling for $2 billion in 2014, a sale that required court approval after the league forced Sterling out over racist remarks, according to ClutchPoints. He's also been a longtime Clippers season ticket-holder.

Professionally, Gibson spent the last six years as a trial lawyer and litigation partner at DLA Piper in Los Angeles, where he co-chaired the firm's U.S. Business & Commercial Litigation practice, according to the Associated Press. ClutchPoints reports he has more than 35 years of experience representing corporations, tech and health care companies, and pro sports organizations, and was inducted in 2025 as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, an honor the outlet describes as reserved for the top 1% of trial lawyers nationally.

"I am honored to take on this responsibility and grateful for the opportunity to serve an organization I have supported for many years," Gibson said in a team statement carried by multiple outlets. "My focus will be on supporting our people, providing steady leadership, and helping the organization continue moving forward."

Gibson steps into a front office thinned out by the league's penalties. Team president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank was banned for six months and president of business operations Gillian Zucker was suspended for a full year in the same round of discipline, according to Basketball News. That leaves Gibson overseeing both basketball and business sides with several senior figures on the sideline at once.

ClutchPoints reports that only 29 of the league's 30 teams were represented at the NBA's Board of Governors meetings in New York on September 14 and 15, with Silver saying the Clippers sat out because the organization was still sorting out who would serve as governor.

Basketball News drew a direct parallel to 2014, when the NBA installed former Time Warner chief Dick Parsons as interim CEO during the Sterling scandal. The outlet noted the key difference this time: Ballmer, still the owner, picked his own successor, rather than the league imposing one over his objection.

The leadership change follows Ballmer's reversal earlier this month, when he said the team would not fight the NBA's findings, a shift from the Clippers' initial posture calling the investigation "heavily biased." Ballmer has said the team already paid the $30 million fine.