NBA fined Thursday night utah jazz $500,000 more Indiana Pacers The $100,000 penalty came after the league said both teams benched healthy players in moves during recent games, reviving criticism of tanking to improve draft position.
Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement, “This kind of blatant behavior 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.” “Additionally, we are working with our Competition Committee and Board of Governors to implement further measures to root out this type of conduct.”
The Jazz were fined due to the team’s actions in games against orlando magic on February 7 (120–117 loss) and Miami Heat on February 9 (win 115–111). During them, Utah benched the stars lauri markkanen And jaren jackson jr for the fourth quarter “even if these players were otherwise able to continue playing and thereafter the outcome of the game was in doubt,” the league said.
Meanwhile, the Pacers violated the player participation policy against the Jazz on February 3. The league said an investigation showed that the Indiana Star pascal siakam And two other Pacers starters sitting out games “could have played under the medical standard in the policy, including playing fewer minutes. Alternatively, the team could have held players out of other games in a way that would have better promoted compliance with the policy.”
Utah owner Ryan Smith took to social media After the punishment was announced, the NBA wrote, “Agree to disagree… Also, we won the game in Miami and got fined? That makes sense…”
There is a renewed focus on tanking to improve draft position this season, as the potential 2026 class includes three strong contenders to be the No. 1 pick – darrin peterson, AJ DiBantsa And cameron boozer.
The Pacers (15-40) and Jazz (18-37) are among the bottom six teams in the league.
