He claims that because the hip pop (not a typo) star does not draw a salary from The Raptors, that he's not an official employee and therefore cannot be held accountable.
He draws comparisons to Jay Z in his role with the Nets, flirting with players and trying to get them to sign with his team. A) Jay Z never got up on stage and said - Hey LeBron, come and play for Brooklyn! The city loves you! If he had, he would have seen a fine handed to his club.
Does Jay Z have private conversations with guys? I don't know. Maybe. If he does, he's smart enough to keep it quiet and not let it get public.
B) Once Raptors GM Masai Ujiri and MLSE Prez Tim Tim Leiweke had that big presser last summer announcing Drake as an official "ambassador", and stated that he would be involved in the marketing efforts and BRANDING of the team - the public perception became clear. Drake IS a Raptor. That's cool.
The Raptors have struggled for years to have any level of street cred. and maybe Drake brings a little. If they wanted a guy who could text free agents and wine em and dine em - they could have done that with a wink and a nudge without the pomp and circumstance of the presser.
Once that presser happened though, the optics went from Drake being a Raptors fan to an extended member of the front office. In the NBA, optics are everything. The optics on this story were bad.
If Kyle Lowry was at a concert in Miami back in June, and Flo Rida jumped on a stage abd said "Yo KLow, Miami loves you dog. Come to the Heat!", Raptor fans would have lost their freakin minds.
Drake claims he's not just a performer, but also a business man. The jury is out on that. Was this a calculated stunt, that the club knew about, where they expected a fine but want to be seen as the brash up and coming squad? It that sense, it reminds me of Ujiri's "F Brooklyn" speech during the playoffs this past season.
The other possibility is that Drake was acting like a super fan - and not the 'ambassador' that he is - and just lost his head. In which case, it could support the rep that Toronto has always had of being a weak sister unable to attract RFAs, and is now resorting to 'public begging'.
The NBA had offered to drop the fine altogether if the Raptors stripped Drake of his "ambassador" title and cut all professional ties.
Drake's a wild card.
The NBA is as straight laced under Adam Silver as it was under David Stern.
The Raptors want that loose cannon wild card making in-roads for them - as long as it doesn't result in subsequent tampering charges and the loss of draft picks.
Optics bro.
