Report: NBA fines Knicks for Phil Jackson's comments on D'Angelo Russell

The NBA has reportedly fined the New York Knicks over team president Phil Jackson's comments on Ohio State guard D'Angelo Russell, according to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.

Jackson gave the freshman Russell a fairly innocuous compliment last week through a reporter, saying: "He's a great-looking kid. Great prospect."

Russell is a consensus lottery pick in June's draft, but such praise from an NBA front-office executive is a no-no given Russell has not yet declared and is therefore considered ineligible. 

At this point, salivating about potential draft picks is all the Knicks can do, and Jackson isn't shy about giving compliments, even when he's not supposed to. This is his second fine as Knicks president - he was fined $25,000 last year for tampering with then-Oklahoma City Thunder guard and current Knicks coach Derek Fisher. 

In 2005, the NBA fined the then-Los Angeles Lakers coach another $25,000 for comments about then-Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh that were also considered a violation of the league's anti-tampering rules.