How strict are the NBA’s anti-tampering guidelines? You can still get fined even when you are denying interest in a player — and without mentioning the player by name.
That is the case for Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob, who received a $50,000 tampering fine on Wednesday. In a statement, the league said the fine was a result of Lacob’s comments about Ben Simmons.
Full league statement on the fine of Warriors owner Joe Lacob for violating the league's anti-tampering rules by speaking openly about Philadelphia's Ben Simmons: pic.twitter.com/3hrIphA8bq
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) September 22, 2021
Lacob tried to avoid this by referring to Simmons as the “Defensive Player of the Year candidate in Philadelphia,” but that was not enough. Ironically, Lacob didn’t have a lot of positive things to say about Simmons, and his comments made it fairly clear the Warriors weren’t likely to have interest in trading for the disgruntled star.
We probably shouldn’t be surprised that Lacob didn’t avoid a fine. The NBA has handed down even bigger fines for pretty mild things in the past, showing just how seriously they enforce the tampering policy.
