Knixkik wrote:Nalod wrote:Lebron was asked a question and he answered it.
It's a fine line and perhaps a rule that can't really be enforced.
This is what it comes down to. If the league wants to avoid this problem they need to forbid media from asking certain types of questions. Lebron did not openly recruit. He simply answered the question asked.
Several owners brought this up in the last CBA negotiations. To put in a rule - Tampering would exist for players if they discussed a player under contract with a different team, BUT was represented by the same agent and/or the same agency of representation. Several owners, old guard ones, were pretty pissed about the entire Dwight Howard in Orlando/Melo in Denver/Deron Williams in Utah situations, where teams were tampering openly, but Stern loved the press/ratings it generated. Some of them held the stance that everyone should tamper then no matter what.
The deeper issue is that LBJ is the defacto head of Klutch Sports. While Rich Paul runs it on paper, it's all an open sham.
Another complication is crypto-currency. Brands and other entities are paying players under the table to make up the difference for "leaving money on the table" in a contract. Crypto makes this far easier to manipulate.
OK, let's get real here. Rich Paul told a reporter to ask a specific question in exchange for some favor later ( an interview, a quote, etc, etc, something of value)
The most practical pathway is to void any talk in public about another player sharing the same agent/agency. The rest is too complicated to try to regulate.
LBJ will trigger another labor war. He's pretty much the dumbest ****ing person in all of pro sports right now. He could run Klutch quietly and try to build it up. Instead he needs to not just poach players, but rub that **** in everyone's faces too. What a ****ing narcissistic jack off.