The rules of tampering are a bit hard to understand, but the whole idea is that speaking about another team’s player in a way that might induce them to join your organization is not a good idea. There is tampering across the league from time to time, it’s hard for it not to exist in a close-knit community like the NBA. But for the most part, a lot of it goes overlooked, except for when the NBA tries to make an example out of someone.
Magic Johnson was President of Basketball Operations for his beloved Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, right when Giannis Antetokounmpo was starting to establish himself as one of the best. And when asked about the similarities between his and Giannis’ game, Magic had a lot to say, praising the Bucks star quite a bit.
“With his ball-handling skills and his passing ability. He plays above the rim I never could do that. But in his understanding of the game, his basketball IQ, his creativity of shots for his teammates. That’s where we [have the] same thing. Can bring it down, make a pass, make a play.
“I’m just happy he’s starting in the All-Star game because he deserves that. And he’s going to be like an MVP, a champion, this dude he’s going to put Milwaukee on the map. And I think he’s going to bring them a championship one day.”
While this seems like some harmless praise, the NBA didn’t quite see it that way and slapped Magic with a $50,000 fine. Needless to say, he was not very pleased about that.
Magic Johnson Thought The Tampering Fine Over His Giannis Comments Was A Bit Absurd
Tampering is something that the league is starting to crack down on a lot more. The Philadelphia 76ers had an investigation against them, as did the New York Knicks for their acquisition of Jalen Brunson. But this particular incident rubbed Johnson the wrong way, as he admitted in a later interview.
https://twitter.com/_Talkin_NBA/status/1116055805617422337
“I think the Milwaukee fine was silly,” he said. “Just outright stupid. I was just complementing him [Giannis] as well as the organization.”
$50K is not a lot of money for someone like Magic Johnson, he’s a businessman with a fairly large net worth. But still, it seems a bit galling to charge someone for complimenting a player like Giannis. It’s wonderful to see after all this time that Johnson’s predictions about Antetokounmpo were entirely right.
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