The Dallas Mavericks were fined $750,000 by the NBA on Friday (April 14) after they sat key players during their April 7 loss to the Bulls in an attempt to better their draft position.
In a release, the league fined Dallas for “conduct detrimental to the league in an elimination game” when they left four of their top five scorers on the bench despite still having a chance at making the play-in tournament. The team’s top scorer, Luka Doncic, also played just 13 minutes at the beginning of the game.
The following was released by the NBA. pic.twitter.com/t92m7uPKR1
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 14, 2023
In the 115-112 loss, which eliminated the Mavericks from a chance at the play-in, Kyrie Irving, Christian Wood, Josh Green, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Maxi Kleber were all ruled out because of injuries or rest. The loss qualified Dallas for the lottery in the upcoming draft, giving them a chance at a high pick or even No. 1.
The league determined that the Mavericks “violated the NBA’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 this year’s draft. Before the game, head coach Jason Kidd told reporters that it was “an organizational decision” to sit the players, and after the game he said the decision was “a step back” but will hopefully help them go forward for the future.
Additionally, the Mavericks’ first-round pick would go to the Knicks as part of the Kristaps Porzingis trade should it fall outside the top 10. By missing the play-in and securing the 10th seed in the lottery, Dallas has a good chance to keep it.
Here’s Jason Kidd’s answer on how Luka Doncic reacted to the Mavs’ organizational decision to pull the plug three days after the All-NBA guard declared he wanted to play as long as there were even the slimmest postseason hopes: pic.twitter.com/9hUUBqts4m
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) April 7, 2023
The Mavericks had another run-in with the league in 2018 when owner Mark Cuban was fined $600,000 for publicly admitting that the team was tanking, saying on a podcast that he had taken the team’s veteran players to dinner and explained to them that “losing is our best option” when they were out of the playoff mix. Cuban also admitted that Dallas tanked in 2017, saying after that season on “The Dan Patrick Show” that the Mavs “did everything possible to lose games” once they were eliminated from the playoffs.
The NBA additionally called out the Mavericks for letting down the fans, the league and the sport.
“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, the NBA’s head of basketball operations. “The Mavericks’ actions failed our fans and our league.”
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