Three teams including the Atlanta Hawks have been fined by the NBA for tampering according to a report by USA Today. According to the report, an internal memo revealed the fines and the Atlanta Hawks have since issued a statement acknowledging the fine.
"We fully understand and respect the NBA's decision."
The amount of the fine has not been disclosed. The issues arose when a ticket rep sent out emails about the potential free agent acquisitions of Dwight Howard and Chris Paul. The incident was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and was later picked up by the major media outlets.
I previously spoke out against this and called it a non story which led to a somewhat awkward exchange. I still believe that it was a non story and that it is tampering only because the NBA's definition has such a wide scope. This was an error that was made by a low level ticket rep who has since apparently been let go. There is no evidence to suggest that anyone on the basketball operations side of things had any knowledge of these emails or what was in them. Its not like any advantage with Paul or Howard was gained as a result of those emails.
At any rate, this is apparently news and this unfortunate incident is apparently coming to an end.