NBA: Are new tampering rules any more enforceable?
By Alec Liebsch
The NBA’s board of governors reacted to a frantic few summers by imposing stricter legislation. What will that actually do in the grand scheme of things?
Perceptually, the NBA has turned over a new leaf. Over the past few seasons, players have used their power to affect multiple franchises. From trade requests to the simple threat of an expiring contract, organizations’ hands have been forced in regards to team building.
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Though players have expressed trade requests in the past, such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Hakeem Olajuwon, the strategic might that today’s stars have used is on another level.
The NBA’s Board of Governors seems to be putting its foot down. During its annual meetings last week, owners voted on strict regulations designed to crack down on any sort of tampering prior to the start of free agency.
Per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, the NBA now has more power than before regarding team transactions.
- Five teams will be randomly audited at the conclusion of each season. These organizations’ texts, emails, and phone records will be sent to the league office, where it can see if any “conduct detrimental to the NBA” has occurred.
- The maximum fine for engaging in such contact has doubled from $5 million to $10 million, with draft pick penalties now enforceable as well.
- Top members of each team must save conversations with an agent for an entire year.
- Players will be subject to penalties if found to be encouraging fellow players to leave their current teams.
For those in need of a refresher, “tampering” is a broad umbrella word for any sort of comment about a player under contract. The conceptual reason is to prevent backhanded deals and give franchises upper hands behind the scenes, but until now the league didn’t seem to care.
How did this happen, and where do we go from here? Is there anything to really do?