Report: Magic's Kimmel interview spurred tampering investigation

The Los Angeles Lakers only have themselves to blame.

The NBA is investigating the franchise for potentially tampering with Paul George, and the Indiana Pacers' allegations reportedly stem from Magic Johnson's appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in April, NBA officials told Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.

George was still under contract with the Pacers when the Lakers president of basketball operations transparently courted him in an interview with Kimmel, apparently angering Pacers owner Herb Simon. It was widely reported that George eventually wanted to join his hometown Lakers. He's since been traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and can't become a free agent until next summer.

Though executives are prohibited from recruiting players under contract on other teams, most instances of tampering are overlooked. Most of them, however, don't occur on popular late-night shows.

Technically, by the letter of the law, Johnson didn't tamper, but it wasn't difficult to understand what he was hinting at.

"We're going to say hi, because we know each other," Johnson said when Kimmel asked what might constitute tampering if he ran into George. "You just can't say, 'Hey, I want you to come to the Lakers,' even though I'm going to be wink-winking like (blinks). You know what that means, right?"