The Los Angeles Lakers have been fined $500,000 by the NBA for violating the league’s anti-tampering rules, the league announced Thursday.
The conduct at issue involved Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka communicating with Oklahoma City Thunder star Paul George’s agent, expressing prohibited interest in George while he remains under contract, the NBA announced. The penalty followed a warning given to the Lakers because of comments president of basketball operations Magic Johnson made about George on national television April 20.
The NBA added that the investigation did not reveal an agreement or understanding that the Lakers would acquire George.
A slap on the wrist really, especially after Magic danced the line back in April. A fine that one of the wealthiest franchises in the league can easily make back in ticket and merchandise sales isn't much of a punishment when they were explicitly told "Hey, knock it off, you're getting close to tampering" and then proceeded to blatantly indulge in some tampering anyway.