Hawks Co-Owner Fined for Tampering With LeBron

Pretty soon, everyone in the League will owe David Stern and co. money for uttering James’ name. LBJ-related fines now total over $100,000. From the AJC: “The NBA has fined Atlanta Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon $25,000 for comments he made to the AJC about LeBron James, a pending free agent. Joel Litvin, NBA president of league and basketball operations, made the announcement Thursday. Gearon’s comments violate the NBA’s anti-tampering rules. If he doesn’t reach a deal with Cleveland by July 1, James would become the best player to reach the free-agent market in years. Gearon’s comments: ‘If somebody came to us tomorrow and said you can have LeBron for max money and it puts you in the luxury tax, I’d do it in a a heartbeat. But am I going to do that for Ilgauskas? Am I going to do it for Jermaine O’Neal? I don’t think so.’ They appeared in the AJC’s Atlanta Hawks blog on May 19 and in a story on May 24.”