NBA slaps Jazz, Pacers with massive fines
Days before the All-Star break, the NBA fined the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers for sitting healthy players in recent games.
The league is aiming for a zero-tolerance policy with eyes toward maintaining the integrity of the game.
“Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games,” commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement via ESPN. “Additionally, we are working with our Competition Committee and Board of Governors to implement further measures to root out this type of conduct.”
The NBA has fined the Jazz $500,000 and the Pacers $100,000 for their recent actions. Utah received the hefty punishment after the team’s actions in games against the Orlando Magic on Feb. 7 and the Miami Heat on Feb. 9, in which the team sat All-Stars Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. in the fourth quarter even though the players were able to play.
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Meanwhile, the Pacers violated the player participation policy against the Jazz on Feb. 3, when a league investigation revealed that All-Star Pascal Siakam and two other players who sat out the game could have played in reduced minutes.
Indiana also could have handled the situation differently by keeping the players out in a way that would have complied with the policy.
These are just two of the latest examples of the NBA taking a stricter approach to keeping players on the court, which the league hopes will minimize such situations in the future.
