Legendary coach and President of the New York Knicks, Phil Jackson, was slapped with a $25,000 fine by the NBA for expressing his interest to hire Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Derek Fisher as the next Knicks coach.
Derek Fisher, who played for the Los Angeles Lakers under Jackson's guidance, is still under contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Because of this, Jackson's tampering was deemed a violation of the NBA rules.
According to Pulse, Jackson said that Fisher is "on my list of guys that could be very good candidates".
The OKC Thunder were eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs on May 31, 2014 in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals. Fisher has been playing in the NBA for 18 seasons and was thought to retire after the playoffs and there are ongoing plans that he needs to discuss with OKC first. In a report by CBS Sports, the Knicks have been continuously searching for an effective coach for the following season after Jackson's first choice, Steve Kerr, decided to coach for the Golden State Warriors instead.
Because of Jackson's comments, the league fined the celebrated coach a whopping $25,000. Under the league rules, he was not allowed to talk about Fisher's possible position as head coach of the New York Knicks while Fisher has an existing contract to play for OKC Thunder. The 30 teams in the NBA have already been notified of the fine via league memo on June 1, 2014.
The NBA posted the fine to strengthen annual reminders to NBA teams regarding its anti-tampering policies. Teams are not allowed to indirectly or directly express their interest in other teams' future free agents.
Jackson's comments on May 30, came months before Fisher becomes a free agent which will fall on July 1, 2014 New York Daily News writes.
Meanwhile, Fisher's next move is still unknown.
"I think you have to want to do anything you decide to do that requires the type of time and effort that coaching requires. You go through your process at the appropriate time, and then you decide from there," he told USA TODAY Sports.