The Cavaliers have been fined $250K for violating the NBA’s player participation policy, the league announced today in a press release (Twitter link).
As we outline in a Hoops Rumors glossary entry, the NBA’s player participation policy – instituted in 2023 – is designed to reduce instances of teams resting healthy players during the regular season.
The player participation policy is focused almost exclusively on players considered “stars” and includes rules prohibiting those stars from sitting out NBA Cup games or nationally televised games without an approved reason (including a legitimate injury).
According to the NBA, the violation occurred when All-Star point guard Darius Garland could have suited up in a nationally televised game on Nov. 24 vs. Toronto, but the Cavaliers instead played him against the Clippers the day prior in a game that was not on national TV.
This is Cleveland’s second player participation violation of the season — the first occurred last month. A team found to have violated the player participation policy is subject to a fine. The amounts of those fines are as follows:
- First violation: $100K
- Second violation: $250K
- Subsequent violations: $1MM more than the previous penalty (ie. $1.25MM for the third violation, $2.25MM for the fourth violation, and so on)
The Cavaliers finished ’24/25 with the best record in the Eastern Conference at 64-18, but have gotten off to a somewhat sluggish start this season in part due to injuries. The team is currently 13-10, the No. 7 seed in the East.