The NBA Sent Out A Memo To All 30 Teams Threatening Discipline If A Star Publicly Demands A Trade To One Team And Specially Calls Out Damian Lillard And His Agent

Rich Schultz. Getty Images.

We finally have an update on the Dame drama!

Well…sort of

Let's have a listen

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Uhhhh I can't ever remember this happening before. The NBA issuing a warning if Dame and his camp continue to come out publicly and demand their way to South Beach or do anything shady like try and scare other teams away from trading for him? Not only that, but also send a warning to every other team in the league that there could be discipline if a star on their team does the same in terms of trying to force their way to one team and one team only.

I have just one question. Was this same thing said to Harden and the Sixers? I'm pretty sure he's currently trying to do the exact same thing as Dame. Feels a little odd to call out Dame specifically like this, but hey it's almost as if Adam Silver has had enough of the bullshit. I don't remember hearing about this type of memo when AD forced his way to the Lakers for example but he was fined $50K, so there's that. 

I think the issue isn't so much that Dame did this, it's how over the top he and his camp went with it combined with every Miami media member basically calling it malpractice if the Blazers didn't just bend the knee to Pat Riley. If they had maybe not been so adamant about it, Silver probably doesn't give as much of a shit. To me this is more of an issue with Dame's agent, which could very well backfire. What a story that would be.

Now you have to wonder how far Silver could go with this entire ordeal. Could he pull a David Stern and just block the trade from happening altogether given how things have gone since the trade demand? That would be a little crazy, but we've seen it happen before. 

The funny part of all this is it changes absolutely nothing. Everyone knows how Dame feels and what he wants. I guess maybe this could scare another star from one day pulling the same move, but I doubt it. It's not like suddenly the market for Dame looks drastically different now that Silver is threatening disciplinary action. I mean, this literally came out 2 days ago 

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and who knows, maybe that was the report that finally sent Silver over the edge and he wrote that memo yesterday/today…but I doubt it.

Now I'm wondering what that discipline could possibly be. Blocking the trade no matter what? Suspension? Taking a pick from the team that the player is trying to force his way to? As we see with tampering, nobody gives a shit as long as the penalty is light. I'm sure the Heat would gladly pay a fine if it means they get to bring in Damian Lillard, so what does Silver think this accomplishes if they aren't also serious when it comes to the punishment?

It is a little funny though that even the commissioner of the league is sick of this Dame/Heat drama. I think we all know Dame is ending up in South Beach at some point unless Silver blocks it. If you thought the CP3 trade block back in the day was nuts, this would be a whole new level.