NBA Fines Clippers $50K For Doc Rivers' Comments About Kawhi Leonard

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA/AP) - The Los Angeles Clippers have been fined $50,000 by NBA for violating the league's anti-tampering rule when coach Doc Rivers publicly commented on Kawhi Leonard, league officials announced Friday.

Rivers made the comments during a recent appearance on ESPN, where he said, "Kawhi is the most like Jordan we've seen."

The Clippers coach was part of a panel with Magic Johnson and others discussing Leonard's game when he made the Jordan comparison.

"He is the most like Jordan that we've seen," Rivers said on the telecast. "Like, there's a lot of great players. LeBron (James) is phenomenal. KD (Kevin Durant) is phenomenal. But not that he is Jordan or anything like that, but he is the most like him. Big hands. Post game. Can finish. Great leaper. Great defender. In-between game. If you beat him to the spot, bumps you off. Then you add his 3-point shooting.

The NBA has regularly warned teams about the perils of saying anything that could be construed as lobbying for a player who is under contract to one team to join another.

"I would just say Doc has been at this a long time," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Friday at an NBA Cares event in Toronto, not long after the fine was announced. "It's not a fun part of my job ever fining anyone. And I understand the competing interest of the media in hearing a coach's view about a current NBA player but it's something where there's a bright line in this league and you're not allowed to do it."

Despite taking Toronto to its first-ever NBA Finals appearance, Leonard - an unrestricted free agent this summer - has been rumored to be considering Los Angeles as a possible destination.

Leonard was born and raised in the Southland and attended Canyon Springs High School in Moreno Valley and Martin Luther King High School in Riverside. He played two seasons for San Diego State before being taken No. 15 overall by the Indiana Pacers in the 2011 draft but was immediately traded to San Antonio.

Leonard resides in San Diego County in the off-season.

The Raptors took a 1-0 lead in the Finals over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.

(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)