NCAA rules violation...what?
The NBA is investigating New Jersey Nets co-owner Jay-Z’s presence in the Kentucky Wildcats locker room after they won their Elite 8 game last weekend. The NCAA has very strict rules regarding the NBA teams’ contact with college players. According to ESPN:
The rapper visited the players after their victory over North Carolina on Sunday at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J, home of the Nets. Jay-Z is a part-owner of the team and attended the Nets’ 120-116 loss at New York on Wednesday.
NBA rules prohibit team personnel from having contact with players who are not yet draft eligible, and spokesman Tim Frank told the Associated Press the league is looking into it.
So, what’s so difficult to understand about staying away from college basketball players when you own an NBA team? This can’t possibly be a situation that hasn’t been clearly defined for Jay-Z and other NBA owners.
Jay-Z’s presence in a college basketball team’s locker room is like William Shatner in a full Starfleet captain’s uniform walking into a Trek convention. His influence over that group of young men would be palpable and undeniable. In other words, it was an incredibly bad idea for him to be there. And he should have known better.
[PhotoSource: SFWeekly.com]
