Pat Riley fined for tampering over LeBron comments

Miami Heat president Pat Riley Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Heat's Pat Riley fined for tampering over LeBron James comments

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated 6/9/21

It’s tampering season again in the NBA, with Miami Heat president Pat Riley the latest to be fined for comments about another team’s player.

As first reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic, Riley was fined $25,000 for comments he made about LeBron James in a recent radio interview. Riley was responding to a question about whether he’d ever welcome James back to the Heat, which was enough to warrant a fine under the NBA’s tampering rules.

Heat President Pat Riley has been fined $25,000 for violating the league’s anti-tampering rule during radio interview regarding Lakers‘ LeBron James.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 9, 2021

As is the case with a lot of the league’s tampering fines, this one looks pretty harsh. That said, the rules have never been much of a secret, so Riley can’t really claim that he was unaware.

Riley’s punishment marks the second high-profile tampering fine of the week, albeit the less severe one in terms of the penalty.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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