ADDinChicago wrote:kyrv wrote:ScottyKCMO wrote:So now that Wade is officially a Bull, would it not be tampering if Pat the Rat reaches out to him via e-mail? I mean how does that work exactly? Does the league have to approve that type of correspondence or what?
Great question. My guess is it's highly not allowed and not appropriate. I also guess it will be done and ignored by the NBA.
There's probably a way around it such as sending something to Wade's agent and having him relay it. I doubt no President or GM has never contacted in some capacity a player that has left their team.
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 in order to negotiate for their services. The NBA may impose suspensions and/or fines up to $50,000 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 league and won't take action independently if they discover that tampering has occurred). Here are some examples:
Definition on Larry Coon's website. Unless Riley is explicitly telling Wade to come back next season, I don't think it'd be considered tampering.
But like others have said. Tampering happens all the time in the NBA. It's a difficult rule to enforce, with lots of gray areas.