Dwight Howard announcement costs Houston Rockets $150,000

Houston: The Houston Rockets have been fined $150,000 (Dh552,000) for prematurely commenting about new acquisition Dwight Howard, the NBA confirmed to Reuters on Tuesday.

The league has a moratorium on teams discussing personnel business until players officially sign on Wednesday.

Howard made waves across the league by verbally committing to the Rockets on Friday, rather than returning to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Amid the excitement, both the Rockets general manager Daryl Morey and coach Kevin McHale publicly commented on securing Howard to draw the penalty.

Howard is set to officially sign a four-year, $88 million contract to join the Houston franchise.