The Minnesota Timberwolves recently lost a game in overtime to the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, the outcome of the matchup would’ve been quite different had Rudy Gobert not fouled out. Unfortunately, not only was Rudy Gobert thrown out of the game, but he was also handed a hefty fine of $100,000 by the NBA for disorderly conduct towards an official.
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As per senior NBA writer Chris Mannix, the league has decided to slap a $100,000 fine on Rudy Gobert after he was thrown out of the game. An upset Gobert decided to gesture that the officials had been paid off by rubbing his fingers together, insinuating that the officials had an agenda that directly went against his team’s victory.
Wow. Rudy Gobert fined $100,000 for his comments on officiating. League notes fine takes into account past criticism of referees. pic.twitter.com/9zN3ji7PQz
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) March 10, 2024
Now, as Gobert prepares to pay the biggest fine of the 2023-24 NBA season so far, let’s take a trip down memory lane and have a look at some of the biggest fines in NBA history.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Back in 2000, the Minnesota Timberwolves were fined $3.5 million by the league for making an under-the-table agreement with Joe Smith, who was a star at the University of Maryland at the time. This is still the biggest fine levied on anyone in the league. But that wasn’t enough as former Commissioner of the NBA, David Stern also stripped the Timberwolves of their first-round picks for the next five years.
Donald Sterling
Donald Sterling was fined $2.5 million by the NBA back in 2014. Sterling, who was the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers at the time, had to face the wrath of the league due to racially charged comments he had made to league personnel, along with general misconduct as well.
BREAKING: The NBA is lifting the ban on ex Clippers owner Donald Sterling, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/mx5bgFA5dz
— Adrian Wojnarowski ᶠᵃⁿ (@wojdespn) March 11, 2024
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver not only banned Donald Sterling from the NBA for life but he also forced the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers franchise so that it found new ownership going forward.
Dallas Mavericks
One of the most recent fines levied in the league was the $750,000 fine to the Dallas Mavericks during the 2022-23 NBA season. This took place during the final week of the regular season when the Mavericks were resting star players on nationally televised games.
The Mavericks were only resting their stars due to the fact that they had already missed out on making the playoffs that year. With that in mind, the team decided to go ahead and try to lose as many games as possible, in the hopes of improving their odds to land the first overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
Mark Cuban
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is no stranger to being fined by the NBA. Back in 2018, the league issued a $600,000 fine on Mark Cuban for admitting to tanking the season while making an appearance on a podcast. As per the official report by the NBA, Cuban encouraged his players to lose that season as they were not making the playoffs.
“I’m probably not supposed to say this, but I just had dinner with a bunch of our guys the other night. And here we are. We weren’t competing for the playoffs. I was like, ‘Look, losing is our best option’.”
If you’re wondering if that was it, think again. Cuban had been on the wrong side of the league twice before this whole ordeal. Back in 2002 and 2020, the league fined Cuban $500,000 during each incident for publicly criticizing the officials.
Seems like Mark Cuban has been a bit of a menace for the NBA for a long time. And despite being fined such a hefty amount back in 2002 the Mavericks owner has hilariously refused to change his ways.
Los Angeles Lakers
It wouldn’t be an NBA list without one of the most popular teams in the mix. The Los Angeles Lakers were fined $500,000 in 2017 when the league found out that the Lakers had tampered in the hopes of acquiring Paul George.
George was playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder at the time. Lakers GM Rob Pelinka tried to persuade PG-13 to join the Lakers as soon as his contract was over with the team, however, failed to do so. Despite the Lakers’ attempts ending in failure, the league issued a $500,000 fine to discourage other teams from such practices in the future.
Mark Stevens
American venture capitalist and a minority shareholder in the Golden State Warriors, Mark Stevens was fined $500,000 for shoving All-Star guard, Kyle Lowry during the 2019 NBA Finals. Lowry tripped and ended up falling on Stevens, leading the latter to shove him aggressively. Apart from the $500,000 fine, Stevens was also banned from all NBA games for a year by the league.
Micky Arison
Miami Heat owner Micky Arison was fined $500,000 during the 2011-12 season when the NBA was on lockout. He made some insensitive tweets regarding the labor situations in the country at the time, which ended up causing quite a stir amongst the public and not just NBA fans.
Joe Dumars
Detroit Pistons legend Joe Dumars was once handed a $500,000 fine by the league for leaking insider knowledge. Dumars was accused of sharing insider leaks and knowledge with NBA analyst Adrian Wojnarowski back in 2010. Dumars was the head of basketball operations for the NBA but after this fine, he was demoted to an advisory role by the league.
Vladimir Radmonovic
During his time with the Los Angeles Lakers back in 2007, Vladimir Radmonovic was handed a $500,000 fine by the league for lying about his injury. Though this action should’ve resulted in a breach of contract, Radmonovic’s contract was still not nullified by the league.
New York Knicks and the Denver Nuggets
Back in 2006, both the New York Knicks and the Denver Nuggets were fined $500,000 for inciting a brawl during an NBA game. This was the first official brawl that took place after the infamous, ‘Malice in the Palace’ brawl a few years ago. So, it may have been justified for the league to be on its toes in the hopes of avoiding another such incident.
