Chinatown Market fined by the NBA after LeBron signs with Lakers
A $50K penalty for the LA brand for violating the anti-tempering rule between LBJ and Lakers
Sports
July 4th, 2018
July 4th, 2018
Since LeBron James has announced his move to the Los Angeles Lakers - which won't be definitive until he is free agent - this has been the hottest news of the week. Among the many news related to the King's choice there's one that has been under the radar, but it's actually very interesting. The LA based brand Chinatown Market was, in fact, fined $50K by the NBA for violating the anti-tempering rule.
The rule under assessment - and we quote directly the league's regulation - "prohibits teams from interfering with other teams’ contractual relationships with NBA players, including by publicly expressing interest in a player who is currently under contract with another team". But what has Chinatown Market actually done to deserve such a heavy penalty from the NBA? They posted on Instagram...
Just a few hours after the news about LBJ's move to the Lakers, in fact, the LA brand posted a picture of LeBron wearing a pair of customized Converse Chuck Taylor, a gift from Chinatown Market we had already talked about a few weeks ago. In the copy of the post, the store joked about how the shoes influenced the Chosen One's decision to sign with the Lakers, congratulating for the new contract. NBA, though, did not appreciate the joke and if you're not keen American basket enthusiasts you might not understand why.
From a practical point of view, LeBron James is not a player of the Los Angeles Lakers yet, he just officially expressed - through the agency that represents him - his intention to join the team. The Californian team, as every other NBA team, is not allowed to sign with the unrestricted free agent players (more about this here) until July 6, when it will be possible for everyone to sign. According to the league, thus, Chinatown Market has intervened between the Lakers and LeBron, who at the moment is not under contract. There's a good news for us though: in order to pay the $50K penalty, Chinatown Market has put everything on sale!
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