The NBA has sent a league-wide memo to remind teams of the anti-tampering rules, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. In the letter, the league office emphasized that “employment contracts are to be respected and conduct that interferes with contractual relationships is prohibited.”

“This principle is particularly important in today's media environment, where any actions or comments relating to potential player movement receive immediate and widespread public attention. Teams should be entitled to focus their efforts on the competition this season with the players they have under contract, without having to divert attention or resources to conduct or speculation regarding the potential destinations of those players in future seasons once their contracts expire.””

This letter comes on the heels of a recent LeBron James comment after ESPN's Dave McMenamin asked him about the idea of playing next to New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis. The response was positive and direct, but small-market GMs were reportedly furious that responses of that kind were allowed, as it has sent a tsunami of unwanted media attention to the Pelicans and stirred the pot on the star's potential departure.

James was not sanctioned or fined for his comments, with the league seeing no signs of an ulterior intent of conspiracy with the Los Angeles Lakers in order to lure Davis. Yet the terms of the collective bargaining agreement make the lines rather blurred in what is and what isn't considered tampering.

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Lakers president Magic Johnson was fined for his comments on Paul George while he was still under contract with the Indiana Pacers, but James did not face that same fate, as it was seen as a candid response to a reporter's question.

Front offices are worried that by allowing James to make such comments publicly, small markets have no chance at keeping their stars — despite the supermax provision — when a player of his stature is so willing to voice his intent of playing alongside them, even if done so in a hypothetical manner.