The Mavericks have been fined $750K by the NBA for “conduct detrimental to the league,” according to a press release (Twitter link).
The penalty was the result of a league investigation into Dallas’ decision to rest healthy players on Friday, April 7 during the team’s second-last game of the season, when a play-in spot was still within reach.
“The Mavericks violated the league’s player resting policy and demonstrated through actions and public statements the organization’s desire to lose the game in order to improve the chances of keeping its first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft,” the NBA said in today’s statement.
The league stressed that there was no indication the players who took the court for the Mavs in the game weren’t “playing to win,” but NBA executive VP and head of basketball operations Joe Dumars said the organization’s decision to rest key players “undermined the integrity of our sport.”
“The Mavericks’ actions failed our fans and our league,” Dumars added.
The Mavericks ruled out All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, along with key role players Tim Hardaway Jr., Josh Green, Maxi Kleber, and Christian Wood for last Friday’s game vs. the Bulls. Due to a Slovenian event at the arena that night, Luka Doncic suited up for the first quarter but was pulled from the game early in the second quarter and didn’t return.
Dallas is hardly the only team that held out key players with dubious injury designations during the home stretch of the season. However, their choice to do so with just two games left in the season, despite being a half-game behind the Thunder in the play-in race, stood out — especially since comments made to the media by head coach Jason Kidd, among others, made the Mavs’ intentions clear.
The Mavericks owe their 2023 first-round pick to the Knicks but will keep the pick if it ends up in the top 10. Having lost the last two games of the season, Dallas finished with the NBA’s 10th-worst record and have approximately an 80% chance to hang onto the first-rounder on lottery night.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was fined $600K by the league back in 2018 for talking about how tanking would benefit his team.
10th pick is worth $10 million?
First overall pick is worth
NBA is a joke for this one, the Mavericks are losers for sure, but Houston literally employed a coach who couldn’t get respect from a high school team for 2 years, Portland rested Dame 2 years in a row, Detroit literally talks about tanking, the NBA endorses this, they better give that 750k to a food bank or something worth it, not just line another rich guys pockets
To be fair Silas was hired with a team consisting of Westbrook, and Harden so it really wasn’t a good fit once they shifted timelines.
Holy sh*t that’s huge…NBA finally made a right call.
Really? Mavs clearly sat players in order to keep their number one pick and it’s worth a 750k fine?
Slap on the wrist
Exactly. The correct call would have been dropping them one spot in the first round picking order. That way they still would have been eligible to be picked for a top 4 spot, but would not have the advantage they were trying to protect.
Cuban is a billionaire several times over. This is the equivalent of fining a millionaire $750. It’s nothing to him. If you asked him a week ago if he would pay $750k to get to keep his 1st round pick he would have jumped at that chance.
I am being a salty Knicks fan here but he got off easy. Dallas had a good shot at the play-in and decided to tank instead. Pathetic.
Sarcasm?
I doubt DAL cares much about the fine, or the lecture. It’s not the price of tanking, or others would be paying it as well. It’s the price of making the commissioner look like an idiot (as he personally sold the play-in as an incentive that would prevent tanking). Had this occurred last season, I have to think the new CBA would have nixed the play-in or at least reconfigured it. By the time the next CBA comes around, nobody will remember.
What a joke. The rule only applies to the last few games of the season?
The league should take their first rounder away and award it to The Bulls. It’s only right that they pay such a penance for their disrespect to the game. All will be right in the university such action.
I agree the first round pick should be forfeited. But it shouldn’t go to the Bulls or any team. It’s just a lost pick.
Can’t wait to hear from the people who were saying they would lose their first if they get to keep it hahaha clowns
Just playing devil’s advocate, but the Mavs weren’t winning games even with the starting rotation in place. And repealing what should have been a 1-game suspension for Doncic’s 16th technical could just as easily be viewed as blatant performance manipulation by the league, maybe more so than simply resting the starting lineup. Given the lackadaisical performance by the Mav’s starters down the stretch, combined with the dwindling playoff hopes, Kidd had every right to give minutes to players who actually wanted to play.
The definition of insanity is doing the same things and expecting different results, after all.
Yes, it’s possible, but it’s clear that this is not what happened here. Maybe one or two players would have been benched in favor of players who showed greater effort in practice, but not five or six.
So where does benching one of their potential future core pieces in Hardy fit into this theory?
It’s one to thing to tank by giving heavy minutes to younger players for development purposes. The Mavs had zero interest in that, either.
So the NBA’s integrity has been priced at $750K
I have No Problem with what the Mavs did. Their primary obligation is to the long term health of the organization. Losing did that.
Absolutely meaningless…
I know it might sting Mark from Cuba’s ego a little and he is tight enough to care about a missing penny…
But the reality is this isn’t really a punishment for someone with his bank account… And it does nothing to stop this happening again…
So why even bother?
They should bring up Cuban, Kidd, and maybe even Luka on criminal conspiracy charges. Think of the money outcome…gamblers, sponsors. That is money in their pocket. This is a legal matter and Cuban won’t learn until he spends a few months in jail.
Without question the dumbest comment I have seen on this page. The bar has been set very high and you cleared it with no issue hahaha
You do not talk to me like that. I’m a top 3 commenter annually on this website. How dare you?
Well then I’m sure I have missed some of your other dumb comments. Regardless you calling for jail time for those guys isn’t just the most ridiculous thing I have seen on this page but on the internet in general. Lay off the pipe.
In your own mind…
Mavs should lose their first round pick for tanking, plain and simple.
BS
The fine is kind of ridiculous honestly.
Until this season the Thunder having been resting players for 3 seasons! The Jazz traded their starting point guard and rested Clarkson and Sexton for weeks when they were still in the play-in hunt.
If they’re going to fine Cuban $750,000 they should fine Bennet $2.25 million. Or Ryan Smith the same amount for that matter.
Look, I’m a Knicks fan and I think this fine is ridiculous.
Portland started tanking three weeks ago, and the Pacers even before that. How many healthy scratches did Keldon Johnson rack up over the Spurs last 15 games?
The Mavs arguably had just as much to lose as other teams trying to collect more ping pong balls, they were on the brink of keeping or losing their pick. If they had been in the bottom five of the league, or in 8th, they likely don’t take the same actions.
This fine was about the Mavs being dumb enough to say they were tanking, but some of the other teams that tanker’s actions spoke just as loudly.
Fine everyone or no one.
I only get worked up about basketball played by girls in high schools with less than 3oo students. They give a crap and play like it matters.
One day when ESPN turns on the NBA, Cuban will be driving Uber and inventing cash cab.
Mavericks are a mediocre team. They’re not winning another championship for a very long time.
This is what happens when you have two ball hogs drama queens with poor defense.
I’m Dallas I do the same. That pick plus signing Kyrie. Is the way you build for next yr.
Now since they told everyone excatly this. NBA can’t let it go. But Real Justice is giving that pick to the Knicks.
Signing Kyrie is the way you force Luka to look for greener pastures…
Mark from Cuba is too cheap to build a winning team… Kyrie was a very desperate move that has already failed massivley…
So… are you going to fine every other team that deliberately rested players during games this season?
You made us look bad said silver. Fire silver or fine everyone. Smh this guy is a joke but everyone is clueless to this no defense run run 3pointer repeat. Fire silver