by The Dallas Mavericks have been fined $750,000 by the NBA after the organization folded Kyrie Irving and four big contributors against the Chicago Bulls in the penultimate game of the regular season.
The league announced an investigation into the The apparent collapse of the Mavericks the day after the game.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban reacts during a timeout in the game against the Golden State Warriors at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on March 22, 2023. (Tim Heitman/Getty Images)
“The Mavericks violated the league’s player rest policy and demonstrated through actions and public statements the organization’s desire to forfeit the game to improve the chances of keeping their first-round pick in the game.” NBA Draft 2023“The NBA said Friday in announcing the fine. “The league did not find that the players who participated in the game were not playing to win.”
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The Mavs still owe a top-10 protected draft pick to The New York Knicks, stemming from his 2019 trade for Kristaps Porzingis.
“The Dallas Mavericks’ decision to restrict key players from full participation in an elimination game last Friday against Chicago undermined the integrity of our game. The Mavericks’ actions failed our fans and our league,” said Joe Dumars , NBA Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations.
From left: Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and guards Kyrie Irving and Tim Hardaway Jr. sit courtside during the game against the Chicago Bulls at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on April 7, 2023 . (Tim Heitman/Getty Images)
Before the game against Chicago, Dallas announced that Irving and four other players would be unavailable for various reasons, including rest.
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Head coach Jason Kidd said star Luka Doncic would play only one quarter, and the four-time All-Star he was taken out of the game after fouling early in the second quarter.
Going into that game, Dallas still had a slim chance of securing a spot in the NBA play-in tournament with only two games left, but without their key players, the Mavericks lost to the Bulls, eliminating Dallas from the postseason.
Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks and team owner Mark Cuban shake hands during the game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles on January 10, 2023. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
Missing the playoffs helped Dallas in their quest to get and keep a top-10 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, giving them at least a chance to pick French phenomenon Victor Wembanyama.
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“We were fighting for our lives and understanding that this is a situation that we’re in, but the organization has made the decision to change,” Kidd said before the game against the Bulls, according to ESPN. “So, you know, we have to go by that, and that’s something that happens. So the guys that are playing, we have to go out there and do our best, and we talked about that this afternoon.”
“And the guys that are playing are going to go out there and try to play to win. You have to be professional. You can’t cheat at the game.”
