Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey is now a little lighter in the pocket. On Monday, the NBA fined Morey $50,000 for violating the league's anti-tampering rule. The fine came in regards to a since-deleted automated tweet from Morey that acknowledged the one-year anniversary of James Harden breaking a Houston Rockets franchise record. There, of course, has been ample speculation about the possibility of Morey trying to trade for Harden, and the league clearly isn't messing around when it comes to tampering.
Here's the official statement from the league:
The NBA announced today that it has fined Daryl Morey, Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations, $50,000 for violating the league's anti-tampering rule. The fine is in response to a since deleted social media post Morey made on December 20 regarding the Houston Rockets' James Harden.
And here's a look at the tweet the league took issue with:
This was the (since deleted) tweet that ultimately drew the fine for Morey. Pretty clearly an automated tweet but league is not messing around on tampering pic.twitter.com/HXvgFqGmqr
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) December 28, 2020
In his defense, Morey told the league the tweet was an inadvertent post from an automated app, according to ESPN. This isn't the first time a tweet has landed Morey in a bit of hot water, as a tweet that he sent out last year regarding protests in Hong Kong set off a firestorm of backlash and criticism, and severely strained the relationship between the NBA and China. Morey ultimately apologized for the tweet, and he wasn't disciplined by the NBA.
Despite speculation that Morey could look to trade Sixers All-Star forward Ben Simmons to the Rockets in order to bring Harden to Philadelphia, Morey has remained publicly adamant that he has no plans to do so. "We are not trading Ben Simmons, he is an important part of our future," Morey said earlier this month. So, Simmons seems safe for now. And while the tampering fine will likely lead to even more speculation about Morey's interest in Harden, it really just seems to be a case of the league taking its tampering rule very seriously.
