The NBA announced that Knicks scout Rodney Heard was fined $20,000 and the Knicks’ organization $200,000 for violating league rules restricting contact between NBA teams and players eligible for the NBA Draft.
“We will abide by the NBA’s decision and will have no further comment,” a Knicks spokesman said.
Heard declined comment.
Heard was found to have violated NBA rules on two occasions in Atlanta, once in May 2007 and again in May 2010.
Heard joined the Knicks in 2006 when Isiah Thomas was running the organization and became East Coast scouting director in 2008. The NBA did not punish Thomas, now the head coach at Florida International University.
The Knicks tried to hire Thomas last summer as a part-time consultant, but NBA Commissioner David Stern later ruled it was a conflict of interest.
Still, Thomas recently expressed interest in re-joining the Knicks in the future.
The NBA determined that Heard conducted illegal workouts — prior to the league’s annual pre-draft camp — with both Brandon Rush of Kansas (pictured) and Wilson Chandler of DePaul in 2007.
Rush, now with the Indiana Pacers, sustained a serious knee injury during a Heard workout, according to Yahoo Sports.
The Knicks ended up drafting Chandler, now one of their key young players.
Chandler denied taking part in the workouts and the Knicks were punished only for Rush’s workout in 2007.
Yahoo reported that Heard also held illegal workouts with Baylor’s Ekpe Udoh and Notre Dame’s Tory Jackson in 2010. The Warriors selected Udoh with the No. 6 pick last year.
