Stephen A. Smith Should Pay Doc Rivers' Tampering Fine for Asking Question That Got Him in Trouble
By Will Fowler
When Doc Rivers went on Stephen A. Smith's NBA Finals preview this week, Rivers said something that made headlines -- that Kawhi Leonard was the closest thing we've seen to Michael Jordan.
Apparently, that didn't fly by the league office. Doc was fined $50,000 for that comment in violation of the leagues tampering policy.
The Los Angeles Clippers have been fined $50,000 by NBA for violating the league’s anti-tampering rule when Doc Rivers publicly commented on Kawhi Leonard.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 31, 2019
Before I even get into this incident, I think first that the league needs to take a nice long look at the definition of tampering. There's a difference between what Magic Johnson did (on multiple occasions) and what Doc said -- all Rivers did was compliment a player who's a central talking point of this year's Finals, and he got fined $50,000 just because he happens to be an impending free agent.
Not to mention that Rivers is a head coach, and is no longer the president of basketball operations for the Clippers. He was simply asked a question about a player, and gave, what appeared to be, his honest opinion.
It would make sense for Stephen A. to pay the fine. After all, Doc never did anything too egregious -- he simply answered the question asked to him, and Stephen A. was probably aware of what the outcome may be.
Stephen A. Smith on #Clippers' $50,000 fine for Doc Rivers' comments on Kawhi Leonard - "I was incredibly disappointed by the league's decision. I thought that it was grotesquely unfair... It was my special, I asked Doc that question, and I feel some level of responsibility." pic.twitter.com/RAIMK5JLWC
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) May 31, 2019
In my opinion, this whole situation is something that shouldn't even have happened. That being said, Doc's comments weren't deserving of a $50,000 fine -- Stephen A., help the man out.