Draymond Green fined $50K for tampering on live TV

The Golden State Warriors aren’t in the 22-team bubble at the Disney Resort in Florida, but they’re still finding ways to make NBA headlines.

On Sunday, the league reportedly fined Warriors forward Draymond Green to the tune of $50,000 for tampering.

Green has been doing studio work for TNT during the restart, and during a Saturday night broadcast he made a few seemingly innocent comments about young star Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns. Judge for yourself:

It’s easy to understand where the league is coming from, but ... come on. Green wasn’t recruiting Booker to the Warriors, not even in jest. He merely pointed out that it would be nice to see the sharpshooter on a better team — Phoenix has accrued a record of 118-280 in Booker’s five years, and it wasn’t until they caught fire in the bubble that he had experienced a four-game winning streak.

Inside the NBA host Ernie Johnson joked with Green after the statement, saying, “Are you tampering?” to which Green playfully responded, “Maybe.”

This isn’t the first time the league has docked someone for tampering after a TV segment. A year ago, Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers was fined $50,000 for comparing Kawhi Leonard to Michael Jordan while doing broadcast work for ESPN. Leonard would sign with the Clippers less than two months later.

The NBA has put themselves in a weird position by allowing active players and coaches to serve as analysts and broadcast partners, but limiting what they can say. Had Green put on his Warriors jersey and recruited Booker, that would have been one thing, but he kept anything personal or Warriors-related out of it.

Tampering fine aside, it’s worth noting that Green has, unsurprisingly, been doing stellar work in his analyst role.