The NBA on Friday fined Mark Cuban's Dallas Mavericks $750,000, accusing them of sitting key players during an elimination game to improve their chances in next month's draft lottery.
The league issued a statement Friday afternoon on Twitter saying the team 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."
After playing the first quarter, the Mavs sat Luka Doncic for most of the game. Five other players missed the game due to rest or injury recovery. The Dallas Morning News reports the Bulls sat out key players too, but only the Mavericks were fined.
"The Dallas Mavericks' decision to restrict key players from fully participating in an elimination game last Friday against Chicago undermined the integrity of our sport," said Joe Dumars, NBA Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations. "The Mavericks' actions failed our fans and our league."
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The league said there was no evidence that the players who played in the game were not playing to win. The Mavericks lost to the Bulls by three points, 115-112.
Had the Mavericks beaten the Bulls, there was a chance for Dallas to compete in the play-in tournament, however, risk losing its first-round draft pick. With the loss, the Mavericks are likely to land the 10th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft lottery -- keeping their top-10 protected pick away from the New York Knicks.
The Mavericks said they had no statement about the fine and there's been no word from Cuban about the financial penalty, which appears to be the largest yet levied against the club and the third-largest fine in NBA history.
Cuban was fined $600,000 in 2018 after the league said the owner told his players "losing is our best option" because they weren't competing for a playoff spot. The league said Cuban talked about the remarks in a 30-minute podcast interview with Hall of Famer Julius Erving.
In 2000, the Timberwolves were penalized $3.5 million for salary cap violations and early free agent negotiations while the former Clippers owner Donald Sterling was fined $2.5 million and a lifetime NBA ban in 2014 for racist comments.
