Adam Silver addressed the issue of tampering during a news conference during Summer League, saying that the league needs to clarify rules when it comes to governing free agency.
"I think [teams are] put in difficult situations because when they're sitting across from a player and whether it's conversations that are happening earlier than they should or frankly things are being discussed that don't fall squarely within the collective bargaining agreement, it puts teams in a very difficult position...my job is to enforce a fair set of rules for all our teams and a set of rules that are clear and make sense for everyone. I think right now we're not quite there," said Silver.
Silver added that there's a consensus around the league to revisit and update tampering rules with the goal of creating a level playing field for all teams.
"I think it hurts the perception of integrity around the league if people say, 'Well, you have that rule and it's obvious that teams aren't fully complying, so why do you have it?' I think the sense in the room was we should revisit those rules, think about what does make sense for our teams so that ultimately we can create a level playing field among the teams and that the partner teams have confidence that their competitors are adhering to the same set of rules they are."
