NBA Fines Clippers for Setting Up Improper Lexus Endorsement

By adpock - August 27, 2015

Deandre Jordan Lexus

It doesn’t matter how big a fan you are of the NBA, it’s nearly impossible to follow all the free agency news that happens every summer. There are so many guys taking big money from new teams, it’s really hard to keep them all straight. Well, one player who’s making things particularly difficult this off-season is center DeAndre Jordan, and now he’s dragging Lexus into the confusion.

After offering an endorsement deal to Jordan, our favorite marque now finds itself in the middle of a bit of controversy surrounding the Los Angeles Clippers’ big man. Although the Clippers are actually the party that deserves blame, as they’ve been levied a $250,000 fine for getting Jordan the deal.

Apparently, Lexus was going to give Jordan a $200,000 endorsement deal (no word as to whether or not that would have included an RC F), but the league blocked it. SBNation explains why:

“As part of its anti-circumvention rules, the NBA strictly prohibits teams from providing or arranging for a third party of any kind to provide any form of compensation unless it’s included in a player contract or expressly permitted in the collective bargaining agreement.”

What makes this deal even more suspect is the fact that earlier in the summer, Jordan committed to the Dallas Mavericks, before changing his mind and going back to play for the Clippers, the team he’s played for since 2008. And it’s safe to say that Mavs’ owner, Marc Cuban, wasn’t at all happy about how that went down.

If you believe NBC Sports, Cuban still isn’t happy, as they pretty much blame him for alerting the league about the Jordan’s improper Lexus deal. Even though the league found the Lexus endorsement had nothing to do Jordan’s decision to back out of Dallas, they still found reason enough to fine the team.

Oh well, there’s plenty of other players who will take Lexus’s money, and many of them can hit free throws.