Agent Eric Fleisher Finex

Agent Eric Fleisher Fined

Will accept fine, suspension for attempting to circumvent salay cap with Minnesota

New York, April 18, 2001 -- Eric Fleisher, the agent who represented Joe Smith when he signed the "secret deal" with the Minnesota Timberwolves which violated salary-cap rules will become the first agent to ever be fined by the National Basketball Players Association. According to the New York Times, Fleisher "has agreed to accept" a $57,000 fine and a six-month suspension. Bloomberg News cited a source as saying that the suspension is retroactive to January 1, and will "prevent Fleisher from representing any players in contract talks until July 1."

The fine is the amount of the commission that Fleisher was paid by Joe Smith during his two years as his representative. Neither Fleisher nor Billy Hunter, the union's executive director, was available for comment.

At the beginning of the season, David Stern stripped the Timberwolves of their first round picks in the next five NBA drafts, fined them $3.5 million dollars and voided the contract with Smith. It was the harshest punishment in league history and the maximum allowed. Smith eventually signed w/Detroit Pistons. The penalty was handed down after arbitrator Ken Dam ruled in October that Smith and the Timberwolves did have a secret, written deal for a seven-year, $86 million dollar contract. The agreement was made in January of 1999 after the lockout had ended [click here].

Smith had signed three one-year contracts in January 1999. Two of them were postdated and submitted to the league after he became a free agent following the 1999 and 1999-2000 seasons. Glen Taylor, the Minnesota owner, and Kevin McHale, the team's vice president of basketball operations, were also disciplined. McHale took a season-long leave of absence that ends July 31: Taylor accepted a suspension that ends a month later.

Sources:
New York Times, April 17, 2001

Bloomberg News, April 17, 2001

J. Martinez