The Clippers have issued their second response of the day to the NBA’s announcement of the penalties it is levying against the team and executives for their role in the Kawhi Leonard salary cap circumvention investigation, publicly penning a letter to league commissioner Adam Silver in which they called the investigation a “witch hunt” that “flies in the face of fundamental fairness and of the integrity of the league,” per Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link).

The letter alleges a lack of due process in the investigation, which the team claims will have permanent negative implications not only for the organization, but also for sponsors such as Boingo Wireless and Daktronics, whom the letter alleges were threatened if they declined to provide information, stakeholders, and Ballmer personally.

“In the last year, Steve Ballmer has spent nearly $50 million funding an investigation by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz that has stretched far beyond the bounds of what the league set out to investigate, let alone the bounds of ‘fundamental fairness,’” the letter reads. “… Mr. Ballmer has reimbursed the cost of at least six law firms, many of which were hired at the demand of the league’s lawyers.”

The Clippers’ letter questions the findings themselves, claiming that there has been a disconnect between what was told to the team and what the ruling states, and saying they have “already detailed for Wachtell our concerns about the ways in which this process was designed to substantiate a predetermined outcome.”

“League counsel has acknowledged in our discussions that the league does not believe there was an agreement between the Clippers and Aspiration to funnel money to Kawhi Leonard. League counsel also agreed with the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and a federal judge that Mr. Ballmer was a victim of Joe Sanberg’s fraud — not a participant. Nonetheless, with less than an hour’s warning, and no opportunity to respond, the league has issued a report and accompanying press release purporting to conclude the exact opposite of what it has said privately.”

The letter concludes by stating that the Clippers are “exploring every legal remedy to address this gross injustice.”

It was previously noted that the team doesn’t have an avenue for arbitration, as the findings were handed out with agreement from the NBPA. Because of that, the only path forward for the Clippers to fight the ruling would be in court.