The NBA has handed the LA Clippers one of the most severe punishments in league history after an investigation found the organization violated salary cap circumvention rules involving Kawhi Leonard.

The Clippers must forfeit five first-round draft picks, one each in the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033 NBA Drafts, and pay a $30 million fine.

The NBA’s independent investigation found that the Clippers helped create off-court income opportunities for Leonard through four companies doing business with the team: Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics, and Lockton Insurance. The league said the organization facilitated endorsement agreements, offered business to the companies to induce those deals, and paid personal expenses for Leonard and his representatives.

Leonard was also penalized and must pay the NBA $700,000. His former business manager, Dennis Robertson, has been banned from conducting business or otherwise engaging with NBA teams and their affiliates on behalf of players or other league personnel for five years.

The punishment also reaches the Clippers’ leadership. Owner Steve Ballmer has been suspended from all league and team activities for one year, while President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker received a one-year suspension without pay. President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank was suspended without pay for six months.

The Clippers will also be placed under a league-supervised compliance and monitoring program for five years.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said:

 “I am deeply disappointed by the flagrant violations of our rules and by the Clippers’ institutional and leadership failures that led to this misconduct. The severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations.”

The NBA and NBPA have agreed that the penalties are final and binding on all parties.

James Toney is clear with who he believes is the current number one pound-for-pound fighter in boxing.

Toney knows exactly what it is like to be viewed as one of the best around, having been at his peak in the mid 1990s, going unbeaten in his first 46 bouts before a loss to Roy Jones Jr in November 1994.

‘Lights Out’ would last compete in 2017 after 92 professional contests, with his stellar career seeing him become a three-division world champion at middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight.

While fighters such as Naoya Inoue and Oleksandr Usyk are often mentioned in pound-for-pound debates, it is another man who has reigned at both super middleweight and cruiserweight that Toney feels is the best around.

That is because the American Hall of Famer has told About Boxing that he believes David Benavidez is the current top dog in the sport.

Benavidez has an unbeaten record of 32-0, and having previously been a two-time WBC super middleweight champion, he stepped up to 175lbs in 2024 and became the WBC light heavyweight champion after wins over the likes of David Morrell and Anthony Yarde.

His most impressive win to date arguably came last time out though, heading up to cruiserweight and dethroning Gilberto Ramirez inside six rounds to win the WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles.

Benavidez now looks set to return in December against WBC interim champion Michal Cieslak, where the bout could yet be for the full WBC belt due to current champion Noel Mikaelian choosing to face Jai Opetaia rather than ‘The Mexican Monster.’

South African aviation authorities are reviewing a low-altitude flyover by two Airlink passenger planes at an international rugby match in Cape Town last weekend.

The regional airline, meanwhile, said it had canceled another flypast scheduled for Saturday’s rugby test between South Africa and New Zealand in Johannesburg this weekend, citing unfavorable weather.

In a statement, the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) said it was carrying out a “compliance verification” of the August 29 flyover at Cape Town’s DHL stadium to ensure “all safety protocols were adhered to by the crew.”

Footage of the flyby, showing two planes in formation passing over the crowd, was widely shared on social media and prompted discussion about potential safety risks.

According to flight-tracking website Flightradar24, the lead aircraft passed less than 15 meters (50 ​feet) above the top of the packed stadium.

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What did SACAA and Airlink say?

The SACAA said it was analyzing flight data provided by Airlink and would go over additional information requested from the carrier before issuing a report.

The regulator said the airline had made applications for the flyovers, which were approved in line with the requirements for special air events.

Airlink, for its part, said the maneuver had been carefully planned and rehearsed, with safety being “the first consideration at every stage of the process.” 

It said each aircraft had three senior captains on board with a combined 75,000 hours of flying experience.

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Nevertheless, it also recognized what it described as the “valid questions and concerns.”

Airlink Chief Executive de Villiers Engelbrecht said the decision had been made to withdraw plans for this weekend’s stadium flypast in Johannesburg because “the forecast weather points to unfavorable ⁠conditions for a ​safe formation flyby.”

A history of flybys in rugby

Stadium flybys have long been tradition at major rugby matches in South Africa, dating back to the 1995 Rugby World Cup final in Johannesburg, when a Boeing 747 swept overhead before the Springboks faced the All Blacks.

The SACAA said in a statement that South Africa “is ranked seventh globally and first in Africa for our aviation safety standards by the International Civil Aviation Organization.”

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There have been no fatal accidents in its commercial airline operations space for over four decades, it added.

The history of Black rugby in South Africa

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Edited by: Louis Oelofse

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A WWE star recently spoke about the pool of potential opponents for Dominik Mysterio, claiming that the latter had no threat due to his current alliance.

Dominik Mysterio became one of the most hated heels in the business after he parted ways with his father Rey Mysterio on screen. He has recently been active in AAA and is currently the Mega Champion. He has made allies in the promotion, working alongside Omos and El Hijo Del Vikingo in the stable called El Ojo.

In a recent interview with Casino Guru, Omos was asked about Dominik Mysterio. The Nigerian Giant stated that Dominik had no real threats as long as he stood with Omos. He also mentioned how strong El Ojo was, claiming that it was a conglomerate.

“There’s a ton of opponents, you know, but as long as we’re together, I don’t think he has any tough opponents. We’re together in El Ojo, we’re all one, we talk, we’re a bit of a conglomerate. So, I think as long as he has me, there’s no threat.” (H/T: Fightful)

Dominik Mysterio recently spoke about his WWE WrestleMania dream match

According to Dominik Mysterio, facing Seth Rollins in a special match at WrestleMania is something he would enjoy.

Speaking in an interview with Metro Ecuador, Dominik recalled how he had faced Seth Rollins in a street fight for his first match in WWE. He believes that facing Rollins again in a hair vs. hair match would bring things together well. He said he does not have anything to fear.

“As for WrestleMania in Saudi Arabia, my dream would be a hair vs. hair match against Seth Rollins,” he said. “I began my career with him; it was my very first match, so getting to face him in the ring rather than just being his protégé would be a dream come true for me. What do I have to fear?” (translation by Google Translate)

As of now, it remains to be seen what Dominik Mysterio has planned for his future in WWE and the pro wrestling business.