Don't let the headline freak you out, it's just a scout. The man in question is Rockets personnel scout David Patrick who was suspended for 1 year for "impermissible contact with players during the NBA lockout."
Patrick, who has been with the Rockets for two seasons, apparently had personal communication with players, and that was not allowed during the lockout. Since the communication was not team business, the NBA decided further punishment wasn't necessary for the Rockets as a team said NBA Vice President of basketball communications Tim Frank. To be honest, I don't know what his day to day routine was like as a scout, so it's hard to say how vital he was to the Rockets scouting department and how difficult it will be to replace him, but I do know he was responsible for recruiting Patrick Mills from Australia before he ended up going to the Spurs. Practically, this means almost nothing, but it's yet another stain on embarrassing end to the 2011-2012 season.