Jay-Z
Jay-Z, rap mogul and part owner of the New Jersey Nets, has been fined $50k for interacting with University of Kentucky Wildcat players after their Elite Eight NCAA tournament win against North Carolina, congratulating them as they returned to the locker rooms.
The interaction, had it taken place several year ago, would have been nothing more than just a celebrity and fan making a few players victory all the more memorable. However, over the past few years, Jay-Z has become a part owner of the New Jersey Nets NBA franchise and by socializing with the Kentucky players, who still have college eligibility, makes his actions punishable.
The video that was posted on the Internet simply shows Jay-Z hugging and handing out high fives to the players then finally walking out of camera view into what could have been the locker room area. The concern many have with these actions, as harmless as they seem, is that this would give Jay-Z an unfair advantage of swaying players to make certain decisions concerning the draft or learning more about potential players before other executives and scouts.
I have no doubt that neither the Kentucky Wildcat players nor Jay-Z realized the consequences of their actions at the time. After all, the players are of a generation who grew up listening to Jay-Z rap albums and Jay-Z himself, being a mingling celebrity for so long, the separation between his pop culture persona and responsibility to NBA rules have yet to take place in his mind. Most NBA executives, besides Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban, could engage players wearing sneakers, hooded sweat shirts, sun glasses and baggy jeans and get the respect that Jay-Z did from those players.
I love the fact that Jay-Z has been able to manufacture himself into a legit businessman with the power to bring a team to his hometown (New Jersey Nets will be moving to Brooklyn within 2 years), but the truth of he matter is that he will have to be careful that the networking he has done to create and continue his success don't put him at risk of jeopardizing of one of the ventures he holds closest to his heart.
The interaction, had it taken place several year ago, would have been nothing more than just a celebrity and fan making a few players victory all the more memorable. However, over the past few years, Jay-Z has become a part owner of the New Jersey Nets NBA franchise and by socializing with the Kentucky players, who still have college eligibility, makes his actions punishable.
The video that was posted on the Internet simply shows Jay-Z hugging and handing out high fives to the players then finally walking out of camera view into what could have been the locker room area. The concern many have with these actions, as harmless as they seem, is that this would give Jay-Z an unfair advantage of swaying players to make certain decisions concerning the draft or learning more about potential players before other executives and scouts.
I have no doubt that neither the Kentucky Wildcat players nor Jay-Z realized the consequences of their actions at the time. After all, the players are of a generation who grew up listening to Jay-Z rap albums and Jay-Z himself, being a mingling celebrity for so long, the separation between his pop culture persona and responsibility to NBA rules have yet to take place in his mind. Most NBA executives, besides Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban, could engage players wearing sneakers, hooded sweat shirts, sun glasses and baggy jeans and get the respect that Jay-Z did from those players.
I love the fact that Jay-Z has been able to manufacture himself into a legit businessman with the power to bring a team to his hometown (New Jersey Nets will be moving to Brooklyn within 2 years), but the truth of he matter is that he will have to be careful that the networking he has done to create and continue his success don't put him at risk of jeopardizing of one of the ventures he holds closest to his heart.
*Below is the video of the incident.
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