Breaking Down How the Lakers Got Caught Violating the Anti-Tampering Rule

The NBA has typically punished tampering teams through monetary fines. Under Article 35A, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has the discretion to impose a fine of up to $5 million for tampering. Silver can impose other penalties, as well. They include suspending the team officials who partook in tampering, prohibiting the tampering team from employing the person of interest, voiding the tampering team’s draft picks or transferring those picks to the victimized team. The most significant tampering penalty occurred in 1995 when the Heat transferred their 1996 first–round pick along with $1 million to the New York Knicks. The penalty reflected Heat officials tampering through their communications with Pat Riley, who was under contract with the Knicks.

The Lakers could thus have suffered a much more severe penalty. If, for instance, Silver had prohibited the Lakers from signing George for the next two years, the team’s strategy for future transactions would have been altered—perhaps dramatically so. A $500K fine, in contrast, likely has no tangible impact on the team’s expected recruitment of George.

The Lakers essentially have no choice but to pay the fine

Article 35A makes clear that Silver’s finding of tampering is “final, binding, conclusive, and unappealable.” The Lakers already had a chance to plead their case with Silver. As evidenced by Silver’s finding of tampering, the Lakers failed to convince him.

In the department of “things that will never happen,” the Lakers could go to federal court and ask a judge to vacate Silver’s finding of tampering. It wouldn’t take very long for the judge to dismiss the petition: NBA teams contractually agree to be bound by the league constitution and thus contractually agree with Silver’s authority and accompanying discretion related to tampering.

Lakers’ penalty is unlikely to deter tampering in the NBA

To the extent the NBA wants to scare NBA teams that might be tempted to tamper, it’s unlikely that the imposition of a $500K fine will be all that deterring. Perhaps the NBA is waiting for a more egregious example of tampering to impose the kind of penalty—such as taking away a team’s first-round draft pick or embargoing a team from signing a particular player—that would deter tampering. Until then, don’t expect tampering to stop.

Michael McCann, SI’s legal analyst, provides legal and business analysis for The Crossover. He is also the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of New Hampshire School of Law.

Article Appeared @https://www.si.com/nba/2017/08/31/lakers-500k-fine-tampering-paul-george

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