Several reports confirm that LeBron James has already scheduled meeting with the teams that are lined up to pursue him as a free agent starting July 1.  Details such as time, place and attendees have been made public through sources.

Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer makes the often-overlooked but irrefutable point that all of these communications break the NBA's rules.

Teams are not permitted to speak with James or his representatives prior to the official start of his free agency.  Until then, James is under contract with the Cavaliers and any other team's contact with him violates Cleveland's rights under the collective bargaining agreement.

Windhorst notes that all of this is "blatant tampering" but "nobody cares."

Nets' part owner Jay-Z recently discussed his team's interest in James on television with David Letterman but during the playoffs, Steve Kerr was fined for a clearly tongue-in-cheek comment he made about signing James as a free agent.

Moreover, the league has long been strict about enforcing on-court rules against players, which govern their actions during games, to the letter of the law.  Fines and suspensions for flagrant fouls and players leaving the bench during fights seemingly have no room for interpretation or flexibility.

The meetings scheduled with James in advance of his free agency, presumably without any type of league intervention, seem to indicate that teams are exempt from the same consistent enforcement of the rules.