A couple weeks ago, Jay-Z was seen celebrating with the Kentucky basketball team in their locker room after they punched their ticket to the Final Four. At the time, we wondered if the NBA would levy a fine against the Nets, since it’s illegal for NBA team personnel to talk to college players. Naturally, the rath of Stern has been felt.
The Nets were fined $50,000 by the league on Friday, as Pro Basketball Talk pointed out to us. Personally, I don’t see it as being a huge deal that Jay-Z was hanging out with the team after their win. Considering they were still amidst a possible championship quest, I doubt he was roaming around trying to convince players to leave school early and declare for the draft.
That being said, the fine could be seen as nothing more than a slap on the wrist when you consider the NBA fined Danny Ainge $30,000 for sitting with Kevin Durant’s mother at a Texas game. Ainge was making contact with a college player through a family member, whereas Jay-Z was chatting it up with several players directly. When you look at it that way, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the Nets were given more than double the Ainge fine. Again, I don’t see either situation as being a big deal.
