Celtics fined $30,000 for Ainge contact with Durant

[mr. pony]

Gee, guys. (read Danny and Stallion)

Who thinks my post is stupid now?

Again - will anybody now look at Durant or UT? H*ll, no.

[The Stampede]

Well, neither Durant nor UT did anything wrong, so I doubt they will look into it. It sounds like overly agressive NBA exec's searching out the player's parents and talking to them.

[Stallion]

Mr Pony I think your post is stupid. Last time I looked there was a draft in Pro Basketball. One of two things could happen either Durant stays in College whereupon the Celtics would have no reason to pay Durant or he goes pro in which case he could be picked by a team other than the Celtics whereupon the Celtics would have no reason to pay Durant or he could picked by the Celtics and paid a contractual player's salary. It makes no sense to pay Durant or his family to stay at UT so UT couldn't not possibly benefit from any underhanded dealings which you are always implying about UT.

[ClassOf81]

Who cares? It's not like the Celtics will feel a $30,000 hit.
Make it $30,000,000 and they might notice. This is no deterrant at all.

[smu diamond m]

Just a formality, like Cuban's fines.

[Danny Noonan]

Gee, guys. (read Danny and Stallion)

Who thinks my post is stupid now?

Again - will anybody now look at Durant or UT? H*ll, no.

Yeah, I still think you're acting like a bitter moron. Tell me one potential NCAA violation. Just one. What would it be? Why would the Celtics pay Durant while he's in college? Please tell me. Please don't post and run like usual.

You are aware that Ainge isn't recruiting Durant. They have a draft.

FYI- The NBA is attempting to crack down on this. Michael Jordan was fined $15,000 because he commented on Durant's ability. I suppose someone should investigate Durant and UT because of that, as well.

[Kiper]

If I'm Danny Ainge (or the GM of any team with even the slightest chance to land Durant), the concern to me here is not the $30,000 fine - it's the comments by Durant after the game that he regretted "not playing as hard as I can today and during the year."

If he he doesn't understand that NCAA Tournament games require 100 percent effort, I'd be a little leery about paying him truckloads of cash when he might not know when to work hard.

[Danny Noonan]

NBA Attempts To Stop Teams From Talking About College Players

March 17, 2007 7:56 p.m. EST


Todd Sikorski - All Headline News Sports Reporter
New York, NY (AHN) - With plenty of eyes on the NCAA Tournament and super freshman like Ohio State's Greg Oden and Texas' Kevin Durant, the temptation for NBA teams to contact college stars who have excellent performances in the next couple of weeks is great. The league offices reminded all of its clubs on Friday that no one is allowed to talk to any college hoopsters and said extensive fines would be put in place if anyone did such a thing.

In a memo by a member of the NBA's general counsel, the league announced three clubs were already fined for talking about prospective players such as Oden and Durant who might bolt to the NBA after their collegiate year is over after the NCAA Tournament.

The Charlotte Bobcats and the Golden State Warriors were fined $15,000 each because of public comments Michael Jordan and the Don Nelson made recently.

Jordan, a co-owner of the Bobcats, talked about Durant in an interview three days ago and Nelson, the Warriors' coach, talked of both freshman standouts back on March 9.

The Boston Celtics were the other team that was fined but their infraction was much worse. The club was fined $30,000 because the team's executive director Danny Ainge talked to Durant's family at a Big 12 tournament game last weekend.

While Ainge said only pleasantries were talked about during the exchange, the NBA said that did not matter.

Rich Buchanan, the lawyer who wrote the memo, explained the matter this way.

"The prohibition against indirect contact (with players who still have college eligibility) includes, among other things, communications with a player's family members, representatives, or friends, and extends to any public comments made by team personnel regarding a player."

[Kiper]

Seeing how carefully college coaches deftly sidestep questions about HS recruits, it's hard to believe this rule wasn't in place already.
Certainly should be.

[mr. pony]

[quote="Danny Noonan"] Tell me one potential NCAA violation. Just one. What would it be? Why would the Celtics pay Durant while he's in college? [quote]

Wellllllllllllllllll ....... my point is, unless somebody asks some questions, we'll never know of any NCAA violations. But, nobody questions UT.

I think it's highly unlikely that Durant is without representation - a clear violaition, if it could be proved.

Never said the Celtics were paying Durant, simply meddling and negotiating, which used to be against the rules.

Just as you were wrong when you said Ainge sitting with Durant's family was just fine and dandy, you're likely wrong now too.

I simply contend that things going on in today's collegiate programs
make our little fandango look tame. It's just more complex and requires more digging - and less homer-looking-away by local media establishments.

For instance, I think the L.A. media knew about Reggie Bush's parents' house long before that story broke.

Hate to post and run.....

[Stallion]

So you're pissed off based on speculation based on supposition grounded in hearsay. So let's all slander an 18 year kid based upon your obvious bias against anything Burnt Orange.

[Danny Noonan]

Tell me one potential NCAA violation. Just one. What would it be? Why would the Celtics pay Durant while he's in college?

Wellllllllllllllllll ....... my point is, unless somebody asks some questions, we'll never know of any NCAA violations. But, nobody questions UT.

I think it's highly unlikely that Durant is without representation - a clear violaition, if it could be proved.

Never said the Celtics were paying Durant, simply meddling and negotiating, which used to be against the rules.

Just as you were wrong when you said Ainge sitting with Durant's family was just fine and dandy, you're likely wrong now too.

I simply contend that things going on in today's collegiate programs
make our little fandango look tame. It's just more complex and requires more digging - and less homer-looking-away by local media establishments.

For instance, I think the L.A. media knew about Reggie Bush's parents' house long before that story broke.

Hate to post and run.....

Why is unlikely that Durant is without representation? Give me one reason other than you being obsessed with Texas. Someone shouldn't be questioned just because they're good.

Why would he need to negotiate this early with a team that only has about 30% chance of getting one of the top 2 picks?

Your original post was about Durant and Texas. I said they did nothing wrong. They didn't.

You still can't come up with one logical reason that Ainge would negotiate with Durant. It just doesn't make sense. There is absolutely no reason to do so. There is no benefit.

Durant could declare for the draft today, hire an agent, sign a shoe deal, etc. and it STILL wouldn't make sense for Ainge to try and negotiate with him.

Are you aware that NBA rookie salaries are assigned according to their draft postion? THERE IS NO NEGOTIATION INVOLVED.

So, please tell me, what would Ainge be negotiating with Durant's mom in the stands? You're absolutely positive they're negotiating. Please inform us all.

[smu diamond m]

So you're pissed off based on speculation based on supposition grounded in hearsay. So let's all slander an 18 year kid based upon your obvious bias against anything Burnt Orange.

Do you feel accomplished now that you used all those terms you learned in law school?

[mr. pony]

It's not just UT. I mentioned USC too.

Read carefully, counselor.

[mr. pony]

[quote="Danny Noonan"] Someone shouldn't be questioned just because they're good.

So, please tell me, what would Ainge be negotiating with Durant's mom in the stands? You're absolutely positive they're negotiating. Please inform us all.[/quote]

Not questioning because Durant's "good." I'm questioning because where there's smoke, many times there's fire.

Again, why was Ainge fined, if it's so innocent?

Do you think it would be cool for an agent or NFL exec to hang out with an SMU football player's family at a road game weekend - and what if SMU knew about it?

Man, you guys are really fired up about this. Gotta go - poke salad on the stove.