Kevin Love Just Admitted that LeBron Tampered

[GetLucky]

I'm watching his introductory press conference, and Kevin Love said that LeBron called him "the day he committed." A reporter then immediately asked him to confirm that LeBron called Love as soon as (/the day of) LeBron committed to Cleveland, and Love said, "I believe so, yes.". With that explicit quote, I'm interested to see if the league will act. 

[LarBrd33]

i thought it's been established many times already that there is nothing preventing players from talking to each other.  Players recruit players all the time.  Tampering is when coaches/owners/gms talk to players on other teams.

[bostonsportsforlife]

No matter what, they're not gonna punish one of the league's stars. I highly doubt it.

[D.o.s.]

i thought it's been established many times already that there is nothing preventing players from talking to each other.  Players recruit players all the time.  Tampering is when coaches/owners/gms talk to players on other teams.

It's a little bit greyer than that, but this is typically how it bears out.


I do think we need to take another look at the idea of "an explicit quote" though. The NBA, and whatever team lodged the complaint (how hilarious would it be if the 'Wolves filed it?) would need to prove that LeBron called Love to talk about playing for Cleveland, rather than just calling him to make a bet on a fight or who he should be looking at as a ninth round sleeper in his fantasy league or to challenge him to a Madden rematch or something.

[Endless Paradise]

Tampering charges are only brought up when a team files a complaint with the league.  The Wolves are obviously not going to file a tampering complaint against the Cavs, so no, the NBA will not act.

[GetLucky]

i thought it's been established many times already that there is nothing preventing players from talking to each other.  Players recruit players all the time.  Tampering is when coaches/owners/gms talk to players on other teams.

It's a little bit greyer than that, but this is typically how it bears out.


I do think we need to take another look at the idea of "an explicit quote" though. The NBA, and whatever team lodged the complaint (how hilarious would it be if the 'Wolves filed it?) would need to prove that LeBron called Love to talk about playing for Cleveland, rather than just calling him to make a bet on a fight or who he should be looking at as a ninth round sleeper in his fantasy league or to challenge him to a Madden rematch or something.

http://youtu.be/jxz1kLL-d4U

15:05 mark. My connotation of that was certainly that LeBron and Love were talking about playing basketball for the Cavs.

[D.o.s.]

TP for the link -- anyone's that interested in listening in probably needs to start at the 14:25 mark, when Love starts talking about LeBron and the Olympics.

To be sure, I'm positive that they were angling to play with each other and talking about it, but I don't think there's evidence of tampering.

[The One]

What?!?!?! 


In related news, NBA players travel, flop, and take PEDs.

[slamtheking]

may not be illegal in the NBA but I've long felt that this is no different than teams tampering with players on other teams.  thing is, short of suspending Lebron and Love for part or all of this season as a penalty, there's nothing the league could really do to make Cleveland pay for this transgression.  financially they're laughing all the way to the bank so there's not much a fine will do and a fine would never be leveled on the league's lovechild (not that I expect them to ever suspend him short of using firearms on the court)

[Endless Paradise]

a fine would never be leveled on the league's lovechild

Except for that one time he was, you know, fined:

http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2013/story/_/id/9324801/2013-nba-playoffs-lebron-james-david-west-lance-stephenson-fined-flopping

[bdm860]

Ok let's get technical here.

LeBron committed to the Cavs on 7/11, but he didn't sign with the Cavs until 7/12.

If he called Love the night he committed, he was still a free agent, so can a free agent tamper?


Anyway, I bet saltlover chimes in soon with the exact answer to all of our tampering questions.  Dude has the CBA memorized.  Of course one of us could just google it and look it up ourselves, I would but for some reason when I try to go to the cbafaq.com site from work, I got the message that it's blocked "Reason: Not allowed to browse P0rnography category", go figure).

[fairweatherfan]

a fine would never be leveled on the league's lovechild

Except for that one time he was, you know, fined:

http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2013/story/_/id/9324801/2013-nba-playoffs-lebron-james-david-west-lance-stephenson-fined-flopping

Or the other time:

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2010/01/nba_fines_cavaliers_star_lebro.html

Or the time before that:

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2009/06/nba_commissioner_david_stern_f.html

But the league definitely would never fine him a fourth time, unless they eventually do!

[BudweiserCeltic]

i thought it's been established many times already that there is nothing preventing players from talking to each other.  Players recruit players all the time.  Tampering is when coaches/owners/gms talk to players on other teams.

It is tampering, the rules say it's tampering... whether it's enforced or not, or whether it's easy to enforce or not is another matter entirely.

That said, as I think Minnesota gave permission for them to talk to each other, then it's really of no importance. But maybe this occurred before the permission was given.

Also... it seems for a player on player tampering to be enforced it requires an owner/team to lodge a complaint.

So there's that.

[D.o.s.]

Ok let's get technical here.

LeBron committed to the Cavs on 7/11, but he didn't sign with the Cavs until 7/12.

If he called Love the night he committed, he was still a free agent, so can a free agent tamper?


Anyway, I bet saltlover chimes in soon with the exact answer to all of our tampering questions.  Dude has the CBA memorized.  Of course one of us could just google it and look it up ourselves, I would but for some reason when I try to go to the cbafaq.com site from work, I got the message that it's blocked "Reason: Not allowed to browse P0rnography category", go figure).

No, you can't be caught tampering if you're a free agent.

i thought it's been established many times already that there is nothing preventing players from talking to each other.  Players recruit players all the time.  Tampering is when coaches/owners/gms talk to players on other teams.

It is tampering, the rules say it's tampering... whether it's enforced or not, or whether it's easy to enforce or not is another matter entirely.

That said, as I think Minnesota gave permission for them to talk to each other, then it's really of no importance. But maybe this occurred before the permission was given.

Also... it seems for a player on player tampering to be enforced it requires an owner/team to lodge a complaint.

So there's that.

See the above.

[Endless Paradise]

a fine would never be leveled on the league's lovechild

Except for that one time he was, you know, fined:

http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2013/story/_/id/9324801/2013-nba-playoffs-lebron-james-david-west-lance-stephenson-fined-flopping

Or the other time:

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2010/01/nba_fines_cavaliers_star_lebro.html

Or the time before that:

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2009/06/nba_commissioner_david_stern_f.html

But the league definitely would never fine him a fourth time, unless they eventually do!

TP