NBA Coaches Fined $1 Million If They Retweet Players During Lockout

The NBA is doing what it can to keep coaches and general managers away from the players during the lockout – even threatening a massive $1 million fine for any coach caught retweeting or even just @mentioning a player on Twitter.

The lockout began Friday morning, as the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement expired. ESPN reports that the players and owners failed to come to an agreement on a new contract, and the gap between the two sides was extremely wide on pretty much every issue, making the lockout a much-anticipated event.

However, here’s something that probably wasn’t anticipated: the official, and very strict, rules about contacting each other on social media.

ESPN’s Ric Bucher (@RicBucher) first reported the Twitter ban in a tweet Friday morning:

“NBA GMs/coaches can still follow their players on Twitter during lockout. But a mention or re-tweet? $1 million fine + maybe loss of picks.”

GMs are also not allowed to send direct messages to players, which would also land them a $1 million dollar fine.

In anticipation of the lockout, coaches held meetings with players over the last few days. However, those meetings will likely be the last time they’ll get to speak for quite a while.

So, if you’re following this lockout closely, don’t expect any juicy gossip to be divulged on Twitter: I doubt any of the coaches would be willing to risk $1 million for just one tweet.

Via ESPN

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