The Mavs Owe Some Big Bucks for Essentially Throwing Their Game Against the Bulls
The Dallas Mavericks have received a hefty fine for a decision the NBA described as “detrimental to the league.”
In the team’s second-to-last game of the regular season against the Chicago Bulls, Dallas decided to rest the majority of their rotation players. And it will now cost them $750,000.
Here is the NBA’s full statement:
The organization’s injury report listed Kyrie Irving, Tim Hardaway Jr., Maxi Kleber, Christian Wood, and Josh Green as all out. Meanwhile, superstar Luka Doncic went on to play just 13 minutes of action before exiting for the remainder of the game.
All things considered, it was one of the most obvious and blatant forms of tampering the league has ever seen. Why? Well, the Mavericks’ playoff hopes were still alive. If they had won their final two games and Memphis (who had already clinched a playoff spot) had lost their final battle with the Thunder (which they did), Dallas could have surpassed New Orleans for the final Play-In-Tournament spot.
Instead, Mark Cuban’s team decided to essentially throw the game and lock in stronger odds to receive a top 10 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. The Mavs originally traded this year’s pick to the New York Knicks for big man Kristaps Prozingis, but since the pick is top 10 protected, this loss vastly increased their chances of keeping it.
Teams tank all the time. It happens. But the way in which Dallas went about this was too obvious not for the NBA to crack down on. Is a $750,000 million fine all that much to an NBA team? Stripping draft capital or something probably would have been more impactful, but it’s still bigger than most fines.
Hey, maybe the NBA will rig it so they don’t get to keep the pick, anyway!
