NBA fines

The Commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) oversees all the fines handed out to NBA players and organizations for misconduct.

In accordance with the constitution and by-laws of the NBA, the commissioner Adam Silver, (preceded by David Stern from 1984-2014) is responsible for overseeing fines handed out to players, owners, officers, managers, and coaches for acting in any way that is perceived to be “prejudicial to or against the best interests of the Association or the game of basketball”. There are no official rules dictating which specific actions deserve imposition of these fines, but if it is “in the opinion” of the commissioner that players have inappropriately conducted themselves, then the commissioner is legally obligated to hand out fines and/or give suspensions.

Fines in the NBA can be incurred for various reason and by various people. Players, teams, coaches, and owners can all incur fines. From 2003-2013 the top 5 most fined offenses were for criticizing referees (81 times, for about $2.1 million), fan confrontation (42 times, for $672,500), interaction with referees (35 times, for $750,000), fighting (26 times, for about $1.5 million), and flagrant fouls (22 times, for $295,000). Down further on the list are fines for media, flopping, social media, uniform violations (under NBA Dress Code) and drugs. In all during this 10 year period the league gave a total of 341 fines for a total of $11,488,000. This total only includes fines that were made public and do not include any technical foul fines incurred during the course of a game.

The most fined player for the number of fines is Rasheed Wallace, who has been fined 8 times for a total of $205,000. Vladimir Radmanovic is the player with the largest fine amount which is $500,000. He earned this fine for injuring his shoulder while snowboarding, which is in direct violation of his contract, not the snowboarding per se, but that he must keep himself healthy and safe in the off season.

The most fined coach, for both the number of fines and total amount fined, is Phil Jackson for a total of $380,000 and a total of 8 fines. Coaches are most often fined for criticizing the refs. Jackson, Larry Brown, and Doc Rivers are the top 3 most fined coaches. Brown with 7 fines totaling $117, 500 and Rivers with 6 fines totaling $115,000. These 3 coaches together account for 23 of the 54 fines given to coaches.

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Wikipedia