NBA Fines Hawks, Rockets and a Third Team for Tampering

The Atlanta Hawks, Houston Rockets and a third unnamed team have been slapped with tampering fines by the NBA. The Hawks got in trouble when their marketing department referred to free agents Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. Per the AJC, ESPN and USA Today: “The Hawks were fined an undisclosed amount for violation of the NBA’s anti-tampering policy Monday. The league would only acknowledge that three teams violated the policy. According to several people familiar with the situation, the Hawks were one of those teams. The Rockets were reportedly another in violation. […] Tthe Houston Rockets were also fined what one source called a ‘small’ amount. The identity of the third team fined was not immediately known. […] The Atlanta Hawks sent a statement saying: ‘We fully understand and respect the NBA’s decision.’ The memo says the teams were fined because ‘The conduct at issue involved statements by a team employee to the media, a team email to prospective season ticket purchasers, and articles posted online on a team website, each related to players who are currently under contract to other teams but who will become free agents this summer.’ […] The NBA Constitution also says that potential penalties for tampering include suspension of the offending person, prohibition of the offending team from hiring the person being tampered with, forfeiture of draft picks, and individual and/or team fines of up to $5 million.”