Los Angeles Lakers’ Phil Jackson fined $75,000 for his unauthorized lockout comments in public
The National Basketball Association (NBA) has taken yet another step towards maintaining the discipline in the league. Los Angeles Lakers’ legendary head Coach was
chosen for accountability this time. Jackson, who doesn’t mind to ruffle a few feathers while giving his piece of mind raised some eye brows on April 7th, by publically expressing his opinion about the looming lockout.
The NBA administration was not impressed and slapped a hefty fine of $75,000 on Phil, citing a violation of NBA code of conduct. The NBA also fined the same amount
on the Los Angeles Lakers’ management separately for collective bargaining and bringing the matter into public.
Jackson had said, “It was really about the fact that there's going to be a lockout. It's the perfect time to help the organization cover a gap if there's a lockout.
My staff, all those guys who work with me. All those things played into it. I felt like an obligation. Who knows what the NBA is going to look like next year? It's going to take on a whole different proportion. How long is it going to last? I think there are
some people who are pretty convinced there are not going to be a year next year.”
This Thursday would not be considered the best day in the Lakers’ history as their two most famous personalities were penalized with heavy fines in two consecutive
days. Earlier on Wednesday, the Lakers’ superstar Kobe Bryant was fined $100,000 by the NBA commissioner David Stern for his abusive g*y slur against referee Bennie Adams in a game against the San Antonio Spurs. And now, this very incident has come to the
fore.
The same issue was also raised at the conclusion of the World Sports Summit on 31 March 2011, and a lot of thought was reflected on how the labour woes will affect
this beautiful game if not solved timely. Phil Jackson might be right raising all his concerns, but he also has a responsibility to show some respect for the NBA’s code of conduct as what to say in public and where to say.
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