That didn’t take too long. Just a week after the NBA announced that it was investigating the Los Angeles Lakers for tampering with then Indiana Pacers forward Paul George, a decision has come down.
The Association announced on Thursday that it has fined the Lakers a whopping $500,000.
“The conduct at issue involved communications by Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka with the agent representing Paul George that constituted prohibited expression of interest in a player while he was under contract,” the official announcement read.
We’re pretty sure the Pacers would rather have had the Lakers be forced to forfeit a drat pick. But a $500,000 fine is substantial when it comes to something of this ilk.
George, who is set to become a free agent next summer, has been linked to the Lakers a ton in recent months. And for his part, Pelinka is a former NBA-player agent. So he obviously has connections in that regard.