NBA to Vote on Tampering Fine Increase Today

The NBA board of governors will vote on the proposed changes to tampering fines and regulations today.

There’s no doubt that the blatant disregard of tampering rules in the NBA needs to be addressed. However, it may not be so simple as the proposed changes have been met with some criticism.

The NBA board of governors propose to increase the fine for tampering with players or personnel to $10 million. The fine for teams entering into unauthorized deals with players would increase to $6 million. As well as that, the players in question would be liable for a fine up to $250,000.

Among other suggested measures, Adam Silver wants to implement an annual, random audit of five teams communications with players and agents. Both team owners and agents have taken issue with how the league might go about such investigations.

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“It’s pointless, at the end of the day, to have rules that we can’t enforce,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in July.

ESPN spoke to an NBA general manager and an agent about their issues with the proposed changes. Both sources remained anonymous.

“I don’t think he should have any right to get into my phone,” the GM said

“I wish my owner would vote no, but I doubt he will. You’ll only make yourself a target for investigation if you do.”

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“There’s a big difference between having conversations about how a team wants to build its roster, what it prioritizes in free agency and whether they have interest in your player — or having a deal done on June 20,” said the agent. 

“Both sides are in the information-gathering business; that’s the nature of the job.”

It’s certainly an issue that smaller market teams will be eager to see addressed. It remains to be seen how the owners will vote today.