The NBA has fined the Cleveland Cavaliers $100,000 for sitting healthy All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley for a Nov. 12 road game against the Miami Heat. The NBA announced the fine Tuesday, citing the league’s player participation policy.
The Cavaliers listed both players as out for the game due to “rest.” Neither player was dealing with an injury. Cleveland won the game, 130-116.
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The NBA implemented the player participation policy prior to the 2023-24 season to address stars not playing in games when healthy. The league has been plagued for years by teams sitting their healthy stars for regular-season games, denying paying customers of the show they expected to see when they purchased tickets.
Heat fans did not get to see Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell play on Nov. 12.
(Jason Miller via Getty Images)
These scenarios are particularly egregious when road teams rest stars as it may be the only opportunity for fans in the host city to see those players. For the Heat, the Nov. 12 game was one of two home games against the Cavaliers this season.
While targeting nationally televised games, which this was not, the player participation policy also specifically addresses situations in which teams rest multiple star players.
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“Teams must manage their roster to ensure that no more than one star player is unavailable for the same game,” the policy states.
The player participation policy includes an escalating fine system. The first violation of the policy comes with a $100,000 fine. A second violation triggers a $250,000 fine. Each subsequent violation comes with a $1 million fine.
The Cavaliers are presumably at risk of increased fines if they violate the policy again this season.
