The Atlanta Hawks are facing punishment from the NBA league office for getting their fans' hopes up.
In a recent letter sent to prospective ticket buys, the Hawks told their fans that "Player interest is skyrocketing with the possibilities of landing Chris Paul & Dwight Howard become more and more of a reality," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
NBA teams are not allowed to speak publicly about players under contract with other teams, and the Hawks appear to be in violation of the league's anti-tampering policy.
The Journal-Constitution obtained an email copy of the letter, which had the Hawks letterhead on it and the headline, "Hot New Player news: Chris Paul and Dwight Howard."
Paul currently is under contract with the Los Angeles Clippers; Howard currently is with the Los Angeles Lakers. Both players become unrestricted free agents on July 1.
As a sales pitch to its fans, the Hawks marketing department bragged about the team's "massive cap space" and being "in the best position in the NBA (to land free agents)."
The letter reportedly included a link to an ESPN.com story reporting Paul's anger over the suggestion that he played a role in the dismissal of Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro last month.
"This is your opportunity to get on board before its (sic) too late. Once we solidify our signings there will be no seats left," the letter added.
The NBA did not comment to the newspaper, but Hawks president Bob Williams issued a statement Tuesday, blaming an overzealous ticket salesman.
"The letter that has been referred to was written by one of our season-ticket reps of his own volition. While certainly he is a member of our business staff, his specific reference clearly does not represent how our basketball operations or our business staff have consistently communicated about free agency. It is unfortunate that this mistake, by a single ticket rep with no ill intent, occurred."
The NBA has fined teams in the past for tampering, most notably during LeBron James' free-agency process when he was still a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010. The newspaper reported the Hawks as one of the teams being disciplined for mentioning his name publicly.
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