On Friday, reports suggested that the Orlando Magic were considering filing tampering charges against the New Jersey Nets after an alleged meeting between All-Star center Dwight Howard and Nets' owner Mikhail Prokhorov and general manager Billy King in Miami this week. Howard, who can become a free agent in 2012 and has not committed to staying with Orlando, denied those reports later on Friday.
In the past, the league has threatened massive fines and forfeited draft picks to teams found to have tampered with players under contract. The last high-profile tampering case came a year ago as the Cleveland Cavaliers sought to prove that management with the Miami Heat made illicit contact with LeBron James well ahead of his free agency in July 2010. But no charges were brought, and the investigation fizzled out.
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