Michael Jordan fined by NBA for breaching Lockout norms – Basketball News
Charlotte Bobcats owner and basketball icon Michael Jordan has been fined a hefty sum of $100,000 for breaking lockout rules, league sources have revealed.
About a month back, Jordan had spoken about the lockout gave reference to a NBA player during an interview, which was considered as a violation of the lockout.
The league locked out its players on July 1st after failing to agree on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The NBA owners have demanded that a new CBA be drastically different from the previous one and virtually
guarantee them a profit. On the other hand the players have stood fast and refuse to concede ground on salary cuts and a hard cap.
As both sides could not come to terms before the end of the old CBA, the lockout was imposed. During the lockout NBA players cannot use medical cover or training facilities of the team. NBA owners, officials and team coaches have
also been banned from directly contacting the players or speaking about them with the owners.
Michael Jordan though broke that rule around a month ago. He gave an interview to an Australian newspaper where he was asked about the lockout. Jordan tried to make a case for the NBA owners, who have generally been considered
the villains by the NBA fans, in the interview. He spoke at length about the idea of revenue sharing among other changes that he thought needed to be made in the system in order to make the NBA a viable business.
Jordan than used the name of a player to make his point about the high wages enjoyed by today’s athletes. As he was speaking to an Australian paper, Jordan referrer to Andrew Bogut, the Australian centre who plays for the Milwaukee
Bucks, so that the readers could relate to him.
Immediately afterwards rumours started that action could be taken against Michael. The Bobcats owner had broken ranks with the NBA, something Commissioner David Stern has taken a zero tolerance approach for. The NBA had previously
declared that a fine as heavy as $1 million could be imposed when they sent the memo detailing the lockout for anyone breaking the rules.
In his days as a player, Michael Jordan was often accused of being able to avoid punishment by the authorities because of his super star status. Jordan dominated the sport of basketball like no other and he was the man who made
the NBA into a global phenomenon. Therefore, it was understood that he did get some leeway when it came to such matters.
Things seemed to have changed now though and as an owner Michael doesn’t look like getting any preferential treatment.
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