How much is Drake's company worth to the Toronto Raptors? Much more than $25,000, it seems. On Monday, the Raptors were fined $25,000 by the NBA because Drake, who enjoys a side job as their "global ambassador," made comments at a recent concert about trying to get Kevin Durant to play for the Raptors—with Durant in attendance. That goes against the league's anti-tampering rules, which state that a player can't be explicitly pursued by another team while he's still under contract.

But according to a column by The Globe and Mail's Cathal Kelly, the NBA wanted far more than $25,000. Kelly writes that the league offered to drop the fine if the Raptors dropped Drake as their global ambassador, because of concerns over how his continued association might be used. Drake doesn't earn a salary from the team, but his job is to make Toronto seem cool—and, if a player were considering where to sign, the perk of partying with the world's hottest rapper might outweigh whatever a comparatively rapper-less city like Charlotte might have to offer.

The Raptors apparently said no, because $25,000 is a pittance and they need all the help they can get. (They've won just one playoff series in nearly 20 years of existence, and also play in Canada.) As Kelly points out, the Brooklyn Nets associated with Jay Z without much fuss, even though Hov was probably telling all the big players about how trendy the borough is these days. "All the league has managed here is helping to establish the Raptors’ new credentials as serious players," he writes. And all it cost was probably a quarter of what Drake charges for a feature.

Read more about Durant's history with rappers.

Watch Drake lint roll his pants at a Raptors playoffs game: