The NBA’s board of governors was unanimous in its approval of a plan to stiffen potential penalties for tampering with players and employees under contract with other clubs, hoping for increased compliance in existing league rules.
Fines of up to $10 million are now possible in the most egregious situations, along with forfeiture of draft picks, suspensions of executives and voiding of contracts when rule-breaking is found — significant enough threats, the league hopes, to end any notion of teams entering into deals with free agents before rules allow.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Friday, "We need to ensure that we’re creating a culture of compliance in this league. 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."
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