NBA fines Dallas Mavericks $750K for benching star players: Latest NBA News

Inside the NBA Reacts to Mavericks Being Fined $750k by NBA

The NBA fined the Dallas Mavericks $750,000 on Friday, alleging that the team had participated in “conduct detrimental to the league.” The accusation stemmed from the Mavericks’ decision to rest key players during the game against the Chicago Bulls on April 7, which resulted in a three-point loss.

After conducting a swift investigation that lasted less than a week, the NBA found that the Mavericks had breached the league’s policy on resting players.

NBA Communications

2023-04-14 16:45

The following was released by the NBA. https://t.co/t92m7uPKR1

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The investigation revealed that the team had intentionally lost the game against the Bulls, hoping to increase the chances of retaining their first-round pick in the upcoming 2023 NBA draft.

In 2019, the Mavericks traded their 2023 first-round draft pick to the New York Knicks for Latvian power forward Kristaps Porzingis, but the trade agreement included a provision called top-10 protection.

This means that if the Mavericks’ draft pick ends up being among the top 10 selections in the 2023 NBA Draft, they will be allowed to keep it instead of sending it to the Knicks as part of the trade agreement.

The Mavericks’ chances of keeping their selection in the 2023 NBA Draft improved when the team lost 115-112 to the Bulls, leading them to miss the playoffs.

“The Dallas Mavericks’ decision to prevent key players from fully participating in last Friday’s playoff game against Chicago undermined the integrity of our sport. The Mavericks’ actions have failed our fans and our league,” said Joe Dumars, president of Basketball Operations and executive vice president of the NBA.

Mavericks to face second NBA fine, lose playoff chance

During the game against the Bulls, the Mavericks benched Kyrie Irving (right foot injury), Maxi Kleber (right hamstring injury), Christian Wood (rest) and Josh Green (rest).

Meanwhile, Mavericks’ point guard Luka Doncic played only about a quarter of the game. The decision to play Doncic was presumably made by the Mavericks in order to schedule a tribute to Doncic’s home country, Slovenia.

Other players who played during the game against the Bulls for the Mavericks included point guard Jalen Brunson, shooting guard/small forward Tim Hardaway Jr., small forward/power forward Dorian Finney-Smith and center player Dwight Powell.

Dallas led by 96-85 in the fourth quarter, but in the final two minutes, they were outscored 30-16. Point guard McKinley Wright’s 3-point attempt missed in the last two seconds, which could have tied the game.

The Mavericks also lost their last two games, including their season finale against the San Antonio Spurs on April 9. As a result, their chances of keeping their selection in the 2023 NBA Draft have increased to 80 percent.

Per NBA’s statement, the players who participated in the game were not found to be involved in the alleged scheme of deliberately tanking the game.

The term “tank” means to lose games to gain a higher draft pick intentionally, and the NBA found no evidence of that behavior from the players who played in the match.

It’s worth noting that the recent NBA fine imposed on the Mavericks is not the first time the team has been penalized by the league. Back in February 2018, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was fined $600,000 for comments he made during a podcast interview with Julius Irving regarding the team’s tanking strategy.

During the Mavericks’ disappointing 24-58 season, commissioner Adam Silver of the NBA deemed Cuban’s comments to be detrimental to the league’s reputation.

Analysts said that the recent fine clearly indicates that the NBA is serious about enforcing its regulations and will not tolerate teams intentionally losing games for strategic gain.