It appears that the NBA has had enough of the Anthony Davis situation.
The New Orleans Pelicans center has been a topic of constant conversation around the league after LeBron James recently said that it would be "amazing" to play alongside Davis. On Friday, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the NBA sent out a memo reminding teams of the league's anti-tampering rule.
ESPN has obtained a memo that the NBA sent to teams today to "serve as a reminder of the league's anti-tampering rule." In letter, NBA says, "employment contracts are to be respected and conduct that interferes w/ contractual relationships is prohibited."
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 28, 2018
"This principle is particularly important in today's media environment, where any actions or comments relating to potential player movement receive immediate and widespread public attention," the memo read. "Teams should be entitled to focus their efforts on the competition this season with the players they have under contract, without having to divert attention or resources to conduct or speculation regarding the potential destinations of those players in future seasons once their contracts expire."
Wojnarowski reported last week that several small-market general managers have become upset over James' comments about playing with Davis. The general consensus is that the league isn't enforcing its anti-tampering rule, but this memo obviously means quite the contrary.
Several GMs told ESPN that they reached out to New Orleans Pelicans GM Dell Demps to express dismay over what they perceive as the NBA's tacit endorsement of James' comments to ESPN's Dave McMenamin calling the possibility of Davis' arrival as "amazing" and "incredible."
"It's New Orleans' problem today, and a problem with a different player tomorrow for the rest of us," one Eastern Conference GM told ESPN. "It's open season on small markets and our players."
Despite these concerns, the report didn't suggest that Demps voiced any type of tampering concerns to the league.
Davis has been mentioned quite frequently because of the situation that he finds himself in. The Pelicans star is eligible for a supermax contract extension following the 2018-19 season, but if he chooses not to sign an extension, it's the belief that New Orleans, back in action on Friday against the Dallas Mavericks (8 p.m. ET -- watch on fuboTV with the NBA League Pass extension), could trade their star center. Davis may have taken the first step in his future prior to the season when he signed with agent Rich Paul, who also represents James.
