In case you missed it, the NBA recently fined the Toronto Raptors $25,000 for something Drake said during a concert.
“Before we leave, I just want to show one of my brothers something,” Drake announced to his audience. “You know, my brother Kevin Durant was kind enough to come to the show tonight and watch us. I just want him to see what would happen if he came to play in Toronto. Let him know what would happen.”
This, as you may have heard, is not allowed - Drake is a "global brand ambassador" for the Raptors, and using his status to try to unsettle another team's star player is forbidden by NBA rules. Soon after the concert, the league announced that the Raptors had been hit with a $25k fine for tampering.
According to Cathal Kelly of the Toronto Globe & Mail, the $25k hit came with a condition: get rid of Drake and the fine disappears.
...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.
A city like Toronto doesn't have LA or New York's star power, and they have to do make do with what they've got - it's hard to blame Drake or the Raptors for trying to stand out from the crowd of free agent suitors. Really, this is a silly decision by the NBA -if you could just pay money to make Drake go away, everyone would have done it already.
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