James didn’t call his family, former teammates, or friends…the first call The King made after announcing his decision was to Kevin Love, who just signed to the Cavs after months of speculation. Hit the jump for details
Via Yahoo Sports:
“LeBron had signed to come back with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and just a few hours post he called me and I said, ‘You know what? I’m in.’ That had a lot to do with my decision. I knew they had a lot of young pieces in place, a lot of great talent that has accumulated here as well, and I knew the city relatively well, but that had a lot to do with it.”
Later, Love clarified: “I was the first call that he made after he signed, and I’m very happy about that.”
The phone call may draw some questions from the league who has strong rules against tampering.
Considering the league just fined the Raptors $25,000 for “global brand ambassador” Drake instigating a “KD” chant in front of Kevin Durant at Toronto’s OVO Fest, Love’s statement seems significant. According to Larry Coon of NBA Salary Cap FAQ fame, the NBA’s tampering rule is as follows.
Tampering is when a player or team directly or indirectly entices, induces or persuades anybody (player, general manager, etc.) who is under contract with another team in order to negotiate for their services. The NBA may impose suspensions and/or fines up to $50,000 if tampering is discovered, however the league’s practice has been to wait until a team lodges a complaint before investigating (but that’s not to say they don’t continue to monitor the league and won’t take action independently if they discover that tampering has occurred).
Click above gallery for photos.
