The NBA, which has traditionally been quick to crack down on players for media-related issues, struck again Thursday. There, the league fined Los Angeles Clippers veteran forward P.J. Tucker $75,000 for some recent comments.
Tucker’s infraction? He publicly requested a trade before the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline, a no-no under the current collective bargaining agreement.
Tucker, who fell out of the rotation early in the season and has not played since late November, did several interviews in the weeks before the trade deadline, hinting he wanted a chance elsewhere. The last of those, an interview with Andscape’s Marc J. Spears just hours before the deadline, might have sealed his fine.
“I want to be somewhere where I’m needed, wanted and can do it all,” Tucker told Spears. “I don’t know what’s going to happen but I have my fingers crossed and I’m hoping to go somewhere else whether I get bought out and choose where I go or where I can play.”
According to the CBA, “Any player (or, for clarity, any player representative or person acting with authority on behalf of a player) who publicly expresses a desire to be traded to another Team shall be subject to a fine and/or a suspension. The maximum fine that may be imposed by the NBA on a player pursuant to the foregoing shall be $150,000.”
Tucker isn’t the first player fined for that transgression under the current CBA; James Harden received a $100,000 fine for making public trade demands in August.
The NBA has a long history of fining players, coaches and executives for improper media interactions. Kyrie Irving and other players have been fined for refusing to speak to the media. Players have been fined for using profanity in interviews, The Knicks were fined $50,000 in 2019 from blocking The New York Daily News from media sessions.
Players don’t even have to utter a word to get slapped with a fine. Anthony Davis got fined $50,000 in 2019 when his agent made a public trade demand.
The obvious advice for players in Tucker’s situation: leak the trade request to the media, where the story then gets reported as “sources say he is requesting a trade.”
