NEW YORK – Seeking to enforce compliance with tampering and salary-cap circumvention, the NBA Board of Governors on Friday unanimously passed a number of stiffer measures.
With the league seeking a “culture of compliance,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the new rule changes could involve, “Suspending executives … taking away draft picks … voiding contracts. All those provisions are on the table. The ultimate goal is compliance.”
Speaking after two days of meetings in New York, Silver added, “Our teams want to know that they’re competing on a level playing field and frankly don’t want to feel disadvantaged if they are adhering to our existing rules.”
If a player/agent solicits unauthorized benefits or contact regarding contract matters, a team must be notified within 24 hours, under the new rule changes. Also, five teams each year will be randomly audited to make sure no rules have been broken.
Fines for tampering with team or player personnel would increase from $5 million to $10 million, and increase to $6 million for a team and $250,000 for a player for unauthorized agreements.
Other changes approved by the board included adapting language in the league regarding traveling violations and establishing a deadline for teams to submit lineups 30 minutes before game time, 20 minutes more than previously stated.
The NBA Board of Governors is made up of one representative of each team, usually the managing team owner or partner, or team president.
–Field Level Media
