What do you think about the Cavs hiring a lawfirrm...

[taii1234]

to investigate if Miami Heat tampered?

Yes, I am a Miami Heat fan, been so since a long time ago, and I am not trying to start anything, I just read this on the wiretap, and just wanted to see what you guys think?

Cleveland Cavalier owner Dan Gilbert has hired a high-powered law firm to conduct an extensive investigation into whether the Miami Heat violated league rules by having illicit contact with LeBron James before he became a free agent.

Gilbert has invested several hundred thousand dollars into building a case against the Heat, with the intent of submitting compelling evidence of tampering to the NBA league office.

A source said the Cavs are "determined to get everything out there. They’re not letting go of this. They’re not going to just let this die."


Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wireta ... z16vrGOuHL

[RRT]

this is about Gilbert showing he's a business man and not just one of these nerds running NBA franchises that they own off their family's wealth.

So you treat it like a business.

Which all this is.

[vexen]

If they find proof of this then it's only fair, the heat should lose draft picks for the next 12 years and give them to the Cavs and Raptors..

[Starks1994]

From Larry Coon:

What is tampering?
Tampering is when a player or team directly or indirectly entices, induces or persuades anybody (player, general manager, etc.) who is under contract with another team to negotiate for their services. The NBA may impose stiff penalties if tampering is discovered, however the league's practice has been to wait until a team lodges a complaint before investigating (but that's not to say they don't continue to monitor the leauge and won't take action independently if they discover that tampering has occurred). Here are some examples:

•The Miami Heat were discovered to have tampered with Pat Riley in 1995 by negotiating with Riley while he was still head coach of the New York Knicks. The Heat "settled," and avoided league-imposed penalties, by compensating the Knicks with $1 million and their first round draft pick in 1996.
•After Will Perdue left San Antonio in the 1999 offseason to sign with Chicago, he commented to the press about the possibility of the Bulls signing Tim Duncan and/or Grant Hill in 2000. The league considered this to be tampering, and issued Perdue a warning.
You may have noticed that when general managers and other team personnel talk to the press, they are careful to avoid talking about specific players who play for other teams. They do this in order to avoid tampering.

[Brautigan1]

I think they have a case and wouldn't be surprised if this whole thing blows up in the Heat's face, honestly.

[mcfly1204]

I think it is appropriate. The better question is if this law firm compiles a case, will David Stern listen?

[Lapinski]

Riley was also involved with the Juwan Howard situtuation where before free agency started Alonzo Mourning said it was going to be great to be playing with Juwan Howard. Howard was signed to a contract in excess of 100 million dollars. He pretty much got off scott free there since I think the only thing that happened was he was not allowed to sign with Miami and the contract was transfered to the Bullets.

Wade is an employee of the Heat. This is cut and dry. He convinced LeBron to meet with his employer regarding a job. And I am sure Riley probably knew everything going on, risking gutting the team knowing LeBron was going to sign with Miami.

Riley is too smart to gut his entire roster with the risk he doesn't get LeBron.

What I do think will happen, is if evidence is found, the NBA will say then why did you accept a sign and trade, for draft picks and the trade exception. "You reached an agreement which makes the tampering charge moot" is how Stern will come back.

I believe the trades were brokered about the time of an NBA governors meeting, with the trade and signs being proposed to all the parties to prevent any tampering charges in the future.

In essence since it was never a free agency transaction, but a sign and trade tampering doesn't effect it. The only hope for Gilbert would be to take this to an outside court showing he was coerced into agreeing to a sign and trade. He had expressed his freedom of speech about the "Decision" and was fined 100K for it. If could say he expected to have continued fines on him if he didn't accept the sign and trade.

[Lapinski]

Jul 9 LeBron James SF Signed as Free Agent by Cleveland (Six-year deal)
Jul 9 LeBron James SF Traded from Cleveland to Miami (for two future 1st-round picks)

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/cle/transactions?month=7

[B Mac]

Gilbert is a bad ass.

[tidho]

I think its a no brainer given the circumstantial evidence available publically.
...this isn't being done through the league though, makeing for a very interesting dynamic. He will go Al Davis on Stern's ass if he needs to.

[mapko81]

What I do think will happen, is if evidence is found, the NBA will say then why did you accept a sign and trade, for draft picks and the trade exception. "You reached an agreement which makes the tampering charge moot" is how Stern will come back.

I believe the trades were brokered about the time of an NBA governors meeting, with the trade and signs being proposed to all the parties to prevent any tampering charges in the future.

In essence since it was never a free agency transaction, but a sign and trade tampering doesn't effect it. The only hope for Gilbert would be to take this to an outside court showing he was coerced into agreeing to a sign and trade. He had expressed his freedom of speech about the "Decision" and was fined 100K for it. If could say he expected to have continued fines on him if he didn't accept the sign and trade.

No, no, no.

Look up the definition of tampering. So long as you do it while the player is under contract you are guilty of tampering. Getting that player once he becomes a free agent makes the consequences of your actions worse.

And everyone knows why sign-and-trades are done in the NBA. Transactions are not evaluated in a vacuum. The rationale behind them is considered. If you are a lawyer, arbitrator or whatever, and you actually tried to make an argument like that, you would be laughed at.

The toughest part of all this will be getting actual proof. If all Gilbert's firm has is conjencture and assumptions, it's going nowhere. An e-mail, a tape recording, some sort of statement, is needed.

[rjgraca]

I am happy to see Dan Gilbert pursing this tampering issue which happened while Lebron was still under contract with the CAVs. From what I have read--- the CAVs have lost about 100 million dollars in value with Lebron leaving. This is what a Business does to mitigate damages caused by tampering with Lebron... it's not like Riley is new to tampering issues.

Stern, being a lap dog for ESPN, tried his best to sweep the issue of tampering under the rug. Gilbert couldn't trust the league to run a proper investigation of tampering under Stern. The only way this issue sees the light of day (with the NBA) is a private investigation which offers solid evidence to force Stern's hand to do more than lip service and going after soft targets (like Mark Cuban's media comments) to enforce NBA rules.

[gflem]

I posted on the GB about this. I wonder if there was a handshake type deal when Gilbert agreed to the S&T. The airing of this revelation at this time is quite curious. Gilbert doesnt mind making waves thats for sure. I would love it if Gilbert is going back on some sort of handshake agreement and has proceeded with the investigation in spite it. I would love to see Gilbert stick it to Riley and the Heat.

[Dekadez]

I think its a no brainer given the circumstantial evidence available publically.
...this isn't being done through the league though, makeing for a very interesting dynamic. He will go Al Davis on Stern's ass if he needs to.

What circumstantial, publically available evidence? Lebron meeting with Wade or Riley will not cut it. They have to find records of them discussing the FA situation before the deadline.

I'm a Lebron fan, albeit not really a Heat fan, and if they DO find something, then justice needs to be served. I do believe, however, that finding clear evidence will be a huge task. I can't imagine Wade or Riley, or the Lebrentourage, being stupid enough to put anything incriminating on paper, or being this nonchalant to let others know what they, supposedly did.

I'm not doubting that Wade or Riley, when they met up, discussed the Free Agency, ofcourse they did. But this assumption won't be enough.

[CarMalone]

What circumstantial, publically available evidence? Lebron meeting with Wade or Riley will not cut it. They have to find records of them discussing the FA situation before the deadline.

I'm a Lebron fan, albeit not really a Heat fan, and if they DO find something, then justice needs to be served. I do believe, however, that finding clear evidence will be a huge task. I can't imagine Wade or Riley, or the Lebrentourage, being stupid enough to put anything incriminating on paper, or being this nonchalant to let others know what they, supposedly did.

I'm not doubting that Wade or Riley, when they met up, discussed the Free Agency, ofcourse they did. But this assumption won't be enough.

A lawyer could subpoena:
*Those involved in the Heat organization (secretaries, accountants, etc that would have knowledge of meetings between Riley and James)
*Documents (internal memos, emails, receipts, phone records between James and Riley, etc)
*People associated with James (business partners, personal assistant)
*Even James, Riley, agents to see if they have conflicting stories

Those individuals would have to appear in depositions and give their sworn statements. Cavaliers's lawyers could then ask them about their knowledge of meetings, conversations, or any dealings between James and the Heat.

This sort of discovery procedure is standard in most litigations. Most lawsuits avoid going to trial because of what is uncovered during discovery.

Source: Federal Rules of Civil Procedure rules 26, 37; I'm a lawyer

[Ziggie97]

The only thing this shows is that dan gilbert is a lier. He claimed he was over lebron leaving after 24 hours, but that was an obvious lie. Hes a hypocrite too, because he took a 15+ mill trade exception and draft pick from the heat so he should keep his mouth ****. Cleveland can go after carmelo this offseason because of that exception/

[rjgraca]

^LOL--- Ziggie97 (Lebron's amateur marketing team). Prince Lebron is the original hypocrite talking about loyalty/ appreciation and showing none to CAV fans which gets him what he deserves in turn. If your business lost 100 million in value due to someones deception, you make sure they have to pay the price too. You are typically mixing apples with oranges to confuse the issue. The issue is while Lebron was under contract with the CAVs--- not when he was a free agent.

[Rise Against]

The only thing this shows is that dan gilbert is a lier. He claimed he was over lebron leaving after 24 hours, but that was an obvious lie. Hes a hypocrite too, because he took a 15+ mill trade exception and draft pick from the heat so he should keep his mouth ****. Cleveland can go after carmelo this offseason because of that exception/

"I don't want to go ring-chasing. I want to stay with the Cavs and build a champion."

"I got a goal, and it's a huge goal, and that's to bring an NBA championship here to Cleveland, and I won't stop until I get it."

[Ziggie97]

^LOL--- Ziggie97 (Lebron's amateur marketing team). Prince Lebron is the original hypocrite talking about loyalty/ appreciation and showing none to CAV fans which gets him what he deserves in turn. If your business lost 100 million in value due to someones deception, you make sure they have to pay the price too. You are typically mixing apples with oranges to confuse the issue. The issue is while Lebron was under contract with the CAVs--- not when he was a free agent.

I am not defending lebron one bit. Lebron is a bigger hypocrite then dan is. My post wasn't about Lebron being right by any means. It was about Dan not letting go.

[Ziggie97]

The only thing this shows is that dan gilbert is a lier. He claimed he was over lebron leaving after 24 hours, but that was an obvious lie. Hes a hypocrite too, because he took a 15+ mill trade exception and draft pick from the heat so he should keep his mouth ****. Cleveland can go after carmelo this offseason because of that exception/

"I don't want to go ring-chasing. I want to stay with the Cavs and build a champion."

"I got a goal, and it's a huge goal, and that's to bring an NBA championship here to Cleveland, and I won't stop until I get it."

How does investigating the heat bring the cavs any closer to a championship? Isn't that his #1 goal?