<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>No teams or fine amounts were listed in league memo, but ESPN has learned that Houston Rockets were also among three teams fined today</p>— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/344205206604611585">June 10, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> UPDATE:
Copying this from the other thread... I'm 99% certain it's due to Rockets.com content and nothing big from our front office or pursuit of Howard. Here's the line from the original Sam Amick story: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2013/06/10/nba-teams-filing-tampering-charges/2409499/ The email is the Atlanta scenario. Not sure who the first one describes. But the last one sounds exactly like the series Jason Friedman did examining free agents position by position (names given and analyzed). To confirm that, I went to his Twitter and here's one example: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Free Agency Preview Pt. 4: Time to take a statistical & subjective look at this summer's power forward market: <a href="http://t.co/ypiRwmwirH" title="http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/2013-free-agency-preview-part-iv-power-forwards">nba.com/rockets/news/2…</a></p>— Jason Friedman (@JasonCFriedman) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonCFriedman/status/340468940482428929">May 31, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> But if you click on the link, the story has been removed and none can be found in Rockets.com archives. Basically, just a harmless mistake... Jason didn't know and the NBA cracks down on these things whenever they can. It's not a big deal like discipline to a member of our front office.
It's not the Rockets fault, but the dumb mead and the journalists who writes the BS articles that gets the Rockets management in trouble.
Not from the front office. He's pretty much in charge of editorial content. If anything, his ideas are approved by the Director of Marketing, not folks on the basketball side. The key thing for me is that it's a simple business-side mixup... nothing major like members of the basketball side attempting to circumvent the system. For what it's worth, the NBA has always managed its websites incredibly tightly. If any of you remember, during the lockout, they banned all player references across every website in the league. Stern runs a tight ship, PR-wise. The Rockets, on the other hand, run one of the more true "journalism" model websites in the league. In this case, those two visions collided, and we know who won out.
Is this a new rule? Because they did the same type of preview, last year: http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/free_agency_preview_part_iv_s_2012_06_01.html
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>No teams or fines were listed in league memo. But Hawks fined for letter to season-ticket holders. Rockets fined for stories on team website</p>— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/344209960315523072">June 10, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Ridiculous. If you read those articles, you know how much work was put into them. Very detailed... great breakdown of available free agents by position. 1) They shouldn't be fined for them. They weren't "Come to Houston!" pieces. 2) Couldn't the NBA have said something before he finished all 5 of those pieces spanning a week or so? Seems silly to me.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>No teams or fines were listed in league memo. But Hawks fined for letter to season-ticket holders. Rockets fined for stories on team website</p>— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/344209960315523072">June 10, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Yup, just like The Cat said.
How much did we fine the NBA for that memo about calling more fouls on Yao during the Mavs series? You know, the one JVG got fined for that was later validated? Oh yeah, that's right, we didn't send them a fine for that did we? Maybe next year.
Yup. This is why MLB.com is by far the gold standard for league websites and traffic, even though it's only the third most popular league in the US. Stern and his staff simply don't get it, which isn't surprising.
Just the NBA being the NBA. Picking out the dregs and fining/punishing them, but allowing murder in the upper echelons.
