The NBA fined the Los Angeles Clippers $250,000 for promising DeAndre Jordan endorsements during his free agency

Another layer of complexity has been added to the DeAndre Jordan free agency saga.

The NBA announced on Tuesday that they fined the Los Angeles Clippers $250,000 for breaking the NBA's "anti-circumvention" rules. 

The NBA prohibits teams from "offering players unauthorized business or investment opportunities." The NBA found that the Clippers' July 2 free agency meeting with Jordan included a third-party endorsement offer.

Basically, the Clippers tried selling Jordan on L.A. by offering an endorsement. Here's the statement:

Oddly, this didn't seem to be the selling point in Jordan's decision to re-sign with the Clippers. Days later, it was reported that Jordan was going accept a four-year, $80 million offer with the Mavericks.

Of course, Jordan then backed out of the deal and decided to re-sign with L.A., saying that he second-guessed his decision to join the Mavericks and didn't want to leave the Clippers.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that the Clippers tried to sell the Los Angeles market to Jordan. While the widely held assumption that big markets hold a greater appeal to free agents has mainly been debunked, teams in New York, L.A., and other cities still cite the potential for more endorsements and marketing opportunities to plays. The Lakers, despite being a lottery team in the midst of a rebuild, still try to sell free agents on the Los Angeles market.

It seems the Clippers did wrong by having a third party there at the meeting and, of course, getting caught.

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