The Toronto Raptors found themselves in some hot water with the NBA when their ambassador, Drake, “recruited” Kevin Durant at a recent concert.
The NBA fined the Raptors $25,000 for “tampering” thanks to Drake’ stunt but they did offer to lift the fine if the Raptors fired Drake. The Raptors turned down the NBA’s offer:
Raptors officials would not comment on the Drake versus NBA situation. They are plainly loath to make their secret war public.
They also refused to address a key detail – that the NBA offered to drop the tampering fine if the team agreed to strip Drake of his title. The Raptors apparently refused.
The really odd part about all of this is that Drake just has a title with the Raptors. He’s not an employee. He draws no salary from the team. “Firing” him would have been incredibly easy for the Raptors and it’s not like Drake couldn’t be an unofficial ambassador for Toronto sports or the “Orlanto Captors” or something. I suppose the cache of having Drake’s name officially attached to the team is worth a lot more than 25 grand though.
[For the Win] [The Globe and Mail]
