The Jazz have been fined $500K for “conduct detrimental to the league” related to Utah’s games on February 7 (at Orlando) and Feb. 9 (at Miami), the NBA announced today (via Twitter).
Star forwards Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. sat out the entire fourth quarter of both of those contests, even though the league says they were “otherwise able to continue to play and the outcomes of the games were thereafter in doubt.” Utah was up seven points entering the fourth quarter against Orlando and wound up losing by three; on Monday, the team was up three points entering the final period and won by four.
Jackson, whom the Jazz recently acquired in a trade with Memphis, will undergo season-ending surgery for a growth on his knee over the All-Star break. According to Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link), the Jazz wanted to shut Jackson down when they discovered the issue in his physical, but the former Defensive Player of the Year was “adamant” about his desire to play at least one home game before the procedure.
Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports has heard similarly, stating (via Twitter) that Jackson wanted to play a few games with the Jazz prior to undergoing surgery, which O’Connor calls preventive.
Sources tell Jones that Jackson was on a restriction of 25 minutes, which is one reason why he didn’t play in the fourth quarter of either of those games. Of course, even if that’s true, it doesn’t explain Markkanen’s late-game absence.
Jazz owner Ryan Smith responded to the fine on social media (Twitter link), posting an eye roll emoji along with, “Agree to disagree … Also, we won the game in Miami and got fined? That makes sense …”
The Pacers, meanwhile, were fined $100K for violating the NBA’s player participation policy in relation to Indiana’s game vs. Utah on Feb. 3.
On the second night of a back-to-back, the Pacers didn’t play Pascal Siakam — who is considered a “star” under the terms of the policy — and two other starters (they weren’t specifically named, but the league was likely referencing Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith). The league claims all three of those players could have suited up.
Alternatively, per the NBA, the Pacers could have sat the players in other games in a way that would have “better promoted compliance with the policy.” The player participation policy discourages teams from sitting several healthy players in the same game of a back-to-back set.
“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 the press release. “Additionally, we are working with our Competition Committee and Board of Governors to implement further measures to root out this type of conduct.”
Somewhat hot take: If you are trying to tank, and still win the game(s), the fine should be reduced or have no fine at all.
Also where is the Wizards’ fine? Trae Young has been healthy for over a month now… it’s not just the Jazz and Pacers trying to tank
“Somewhat hot take: If you are trying to tank, and still win the game(s), the fine should be reduced or have no fine at all.”
You’re fining for the intent, not the result. Otherwise you’d just slap a fine on every awful team just because they suck. Jazz shouldn’t be able to wriggle out of their conduct just because the Heat are trash and blew the game.
What I really think is that more teams should get fined. Like the Wizards, Nets, Kings, etc. Make the punishment consistent. Teams over the past few years haven’t received any punishment for egregiously tanking. One team shouldn’t be blamed for something that has been done for years. Playing your guys for most of the game is better than not playing your guys at all.
Are the Kings tanking or are they just the Kings?
They are simply an awful basketball team but they do sit LaVine, Westbrook, Sabonis, and DeRozan a lot
Those teams don’t have playoff worthy teams in are tanking because they suck. The Jazz on the other hand has a team that could compete for the playoffs and they’re manipulating their lineups. The wizards and the nets are the two worst teams in the NBA by far. So it’s different circumstances and situations them taking doesn’t really hurt the NBA. Does it suck for their fan base? Yes, but the wizards should be in a contention level next year for the playoffs and for a Eastern conference run. And the nets should have a two year plan to stop tanking. The kings and the grizzlies are tearing their team down so they can tank as well
The Raptors were in play-in contention for the past few years but they have tanked every year. They stopped this season. A few other teams have been like that too. The NBA doesn’t like tanking in general, but they do pretty much nothing about it. If you are going to give punishment out in a fine, then fine all the obvious tankers, which would be 8 or 9 teams.
This is ridiculous. The NBA always gets themselves in trouble with selective enforcement. It’s the reason so many people believe it’s rigged. Is it a travel – only sometimes. What about a foul- depends. What about tanking? Let’s let some teams do it and then come down hard on two of them that don’t affect the ratings as much.
The Jazz are playing young players in key situations. That is the same thing Washington and other teams are doing.
What about when a team tanks to avoid a playoff matchup? Where is the NBA integrity in that?
If the nba wanted to avoid tanking they should’ve stepped in when the 76ers kept preaching to “trust the process” or when Pop sat players to get Duncan.
Both of those had FAR more impact on the NBA than what the Jazz are doing.
Or better yet, go see the games Shai say out. He “conveniently” missed many games until 2 years ago. Just go look at his game log in the early 2020s.
The joke is Silver listening to the Thunder whining. The bigger joke is punishing the pacers who have been playing hard compared to the Wizards, Jazz, Grizzlies, and others.
I will agree on the kings. No one would know if they’re tanking or not.
A better hot take would’ve been selective enforcement is worse than no enforcement at all, which is something I could agree with.
Winning or losing should be irrelevant to the fine as rct said below. Intent is all that matters. And if anything, I would rather see the fine increased for the owner of a blatantly tanking team to have the gall to act innocent. It’s bad enough teams are tanking, although I don’t blame them purely from a logic perspective, but to play the victim in a case like this is a disgrace.
You had me with you until the take on the owner. If you have supported a pattern of behavior for decades now, how can you hold someone to a new standard out of the blue?
I don’t agree with Ryan Smiths reaction- felt dishonest to me, but I do believe his organization is prioritizing playing time for young guys over winning. That is often how young teams grow. It is not new and not the same as putting players in and telling them to lose.
Go watch the Jazz play. Those young guys bust it until the end of the game.
Is Silver going to fine a team for sitting a superstar down the stretch when he isn’t playing well or what about a discipline issue? This is a slippery slope
There are much better ways to fix the problem
I watch hella jazz games because I help train two of the player in the off-season. So I happen to know a little more inside. Bottom line they are good to compete for the playoffs now.
To be clear, that was my emotionally preferred course of action rather than what I thought Silver should’ve actually done. I, too, don’t like the selective enforcement. Either punish all of them (never going to happen because, as Silver said, it would create friction with the teams) or punish none of them and simply address the issue.
Teams owned by billionaires so these are like asking then for $1and $5 dollars. They lost the game like the FO wanted so they still win.You want to make this matter have it impact their draft chances.
Wouldn’t that be something? Drop their draft position by 1 the first time they’re fined… By 2 the second time and so on. THAT would have some teeth. Money is nothing more than the cost of doing business to the owners.
If nothing else, the ensuing lawsuits could be fun to watch.
Not all the league’s fault. Silver works for the owners and they are never going to agree to fines that would be prohibitively large, especially when the league has the power to hand them out at its own discretion. And a part of me can’t blame the owners for that because we do know the league loves to selectively enforce its rules.
A 500k fine is nothing compared to the millions generated by getting a superstar rookie in the draft.
Don’t let this stop you UTAH.
Go forth and tank the season.
Imo JJJ and Laurie play same position. The future is Kessler , JJJ, Bailey. But a small ball lineup of Lauri, JJJ, Bailey is pretty awesome ……
But a 2-5 of Bailey, Lauri, JJJ and Kessler is even more fun!
That’s gonna be a hell of a lineup next season. Even with George at PG the starting lineup will have an average height of a little over 6’9″.
Laurie was played at SF/3 early in career.
True, but it really didn’t go well. who’s he gonna guard?
Give the fans their money back. Thats a rough watch to begin with.
“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,” So fine yourselves for continuing to allow it to happen? Like this issue isn’t new, and he’s going to continue to complain about it and also continue to do nothing about it.
Where does the money go? You also let load management get way out of hand. LeFraud hasn’t suited up against the Spurs in four meetings. The stat pad kill literally avoids all the smoke against other stars. Been doing it for years.
Believe it or not, the money goes to Stephon Marbury.
Better than nothing. Noise got way too loud for the Jazz after the JJJ surgery announcement.
Anyone know what the max fine the league can impose on a team is? Is that something that even has a definitive end number?
Specifically for CD I should add*
We don’t actually need you this year, heheheh winkwink
Dad? You’re alive?
Protected picks don’t help the situation, it should be disallowed. But, they need to make more serious punishments or this won’t change anything.
This makes sense to me; protections are dumb, and would keep at least a few teams from tanking this season iirc; the other half the time they convert to some bs
As long as there is a system in place that rewards losing, teams will continue to tank.
Reward success, not deliberate failure.
The first rule that needs to go in the moronic NBA is there should be no conditions on trading draft picks. I don’t know when that started but it needs to go away. You trade the pick, You trade the pick where it falls. If the trade isn’t worth it don’t do it. You shouldn’t get to put so many conditions on it( Sometimes for YEARS), That it actually never becomes reality. Thanks Silver, You’re an idiot.
@uncle 100% this
And yet Nurkic has played once a week for like 3 weeks now?
STOP the fines. They’re essentially the equivalent of a toll or bribe paid to the league to obtain its blessing of the team’s tanking. That’s not real enforcement of the competition rules, and Silver shouldn’t be permitted to pass it off as such. Real enforcement must include the elements of restitution (the perpetrator cannot retain any benefit from the violation) and retribution/deterence (the perpretrator losses some existing right or asset, so he won’t break even from the violation). Without that, its silly to suggest you’re doing anything. Of course, silly is what Silver does, and what Silver is.
As ridiculous as draft pick protections have become (particularly those of the fill or kill variety), the overwhelming majority (like over 95%) of tanking teams over the past decades have owned their relevant FRPs outright. Silver also shouldn’t be permitted to pass off some myopic tinkering with the nuances of pick protection as the league doing something about tanking.
Can’t disagree! Well written, appreciate that! Especially about the protections;The fill or kill need to go though!
Not much consistency in what they’re actually fining does make it seem like a payoff to some extent or extortion money so the home fans feel ‘relieved’. It’s still peanuts as someone pointed out, and not a real solution for tanking. Tankings fine though, it happens in every other sport, no? especially when blue chips come along, but the NBA seems to have to address it yearly, maybe because there’s less stars just because there’s less players, and they don’t wear caps or helmets so it’s all the more noticeable when stars are out :/
Fines are useless. Alter their lottery odds as punishment.
Silver actually used the phrase “compromise the integrity of our games”.
Unintentional humor is the best humor.
Utah aside, this issue would mostly go away if the league stopped scheduling back-to-backs. But that’ll never happen as they want to make as much money as they can with the amount of games.
If Cody Williams plays a full 48 minutes, I would fine the Jazz a crisp $10 Million
Dumbest rules ever. Soon the NBA will be setting lineups for teams.
Is it considered tanking if you just want to see your young guys play and develop?
Want to stop the tanking? Make the penalties as high as the luxury tax penalties. Make it so that if you reach thresholds, your pick gets sent to the back or the second round or removed entirely.
Problem solved.
You know what Mr. Adam Silver? Why not just bust open the Draft Lottery altogether. Despite the league reducing the odds and /or distributing them, the “Sam Hinkie’s” would still play on odds and ‘Trust the Process’. I think, as long as there are “better chances”, teams would “position” themselves according to who they are targetting in the draft. A “bottom team” should then rely on other means of getting better other than ‘tanking’. Bust the draft lottery open by putting in equal odds to each team’s draft positions, not just the non-playoff teams. Bottom teams can get better via trade, free agency, player development and some luck in draft lottery amd the draft itself (diamond-in-the-rough picks). Bust the lottery draft open and end tanking once and for all.