After being fined $500K for tampering with the Pacers and Paul George during the 2017 offseason, the Lakers were once again penalized by the NBA last week for violating the league’s anti-tampering rules. During a Thursday appearance on ESPN’s The Jump, commissioner Adam Silver explained the thinking behind the $50K fine the Lakers received after Magic Johnson made a few seemingly innocuous comments about Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“Context is everything, and there had been a prior issue with the Lakers early this season,” Silver said. “And the message is — not just to Magic but to all the executives in the league is — stop talking about players on other teams.”
The NBA’s anti-tampering rules leave some room for interpretation, and generally allow coaches and players to discuss other teams’ players without fear of reprisal. However, the league appears to be drawing a harder line when it comes to executives like Johnson discussing those same players.
“We’d love to hear [former] players like Magic Johnson talk about how great young players are in the league,” Silver said. “But there’s enough commentary out there. And I think, when on balance, just asking them to refrain from that one aspect of talking about other players, isn’t that big a deal.”
Silver also addressed a few other topics during his appearance on The Jump, including why the All-Star draft wasn’t televised and the NBA’s reaction to an apparent increase in injuries across the league this season. Be sure to check out ESPN’s full breakdown for those comments.
You are ruining the NBA.
Another idiot ruining the game of Basketball
Quit complementing players that don’t wear a Lakers jersey Mr. Johnson it’s wrong!
Dont even mention someone on another team or Adam will get you
Seriously. I’m a Warriors fan. I hear Bob Myers comment on how good other players are all the time, and he’s never been penalized for it.
This is a Magic Johnson bias that needs to either stop or be applied across the board. Terrible excuse Mr. Silver, next time just be honest.
What are you talking about? I agree 100% with the fine
The second fine has more to do with Magic having a history of tampering than anything else. If another front office person made this comment, it would be relatively ignored. The fact that Magic has a prior incident with tampering means that the NBA is closely watching what he says.
Do it again and take their top pick. That will stop the nonsense.
A Top 10 All Time HOF player is ot allowed to give an awesome compliment to a current player yet players are allowed to persuade others to join them at All Star Weekend, oh not to mention having the whole world know about this persuasion…..
Y
Um, yeah, OK. Whatever floats your boat Silver, you little hypocrite