Drake Comment Leads to $25,000 Fine for Raptors

BY Gregory AdamsPublished Aug 11, 2014

Drake's role as the "global ambassador" for the Toronto Raptors has put the NBA team in hot soup, with the league fining the organization $25,000 over an in-concert speech in which the rapper made a comment about the Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant potentially shooting hoops for the OVO-repped squad.

As ESPN reports, NBA officials have deemed a shout-out Drizzy gave the basketball star at the OVO Fest earlier this month to be in violation of their anti-tampering rules, which state that a player cannot be wooed by another team while under contract. With Drake currently in association with the Raptors and KD seated in the crowd, the league considered the move to be more of a bid on behalf of the team than just some innocent banter.

Drake told the T-dot crowd: "You know, my brother Kevin Durant was kind enough to come to the show tonight and watch us. I just want him to see what would happen if he came to play in Toronto. Let him know what would happen."

Neither the Raptors nor Drake has commented on the punishment doled out over the alleged cajoling comments made at OVO Fest. Hopefully the fine doesn't cut back the budget for promotional T-shirts and lint rollers.

Durant is currently under contract with OKC until 2016.

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