Nellie Fined

[bogey]

Associated Press
DALLAS -- Mavericks coach Don Nelson was fined $7,500 by the NBA on Saturday for publicly criticizing officials.



The fine was levied by Stu Jackson, NBA senior vice president of basketball operations.



Nelson had questioned how Danny Fortson might be affected by referees watching him differently after his three-game suspension for a flagrant foul against Zarko Cabarkapa of Phoenix.


The coach said Eduardo Najera is still being treated differently since a one-game suspension in February for bumping an official.

[MavKikiNYC]

Ridiculous.

F*ck Stooge Ackson.

[sike]

sad but probably true!

[MavKikiNYC]

I don't have any particular problem with the fining of Cuban, for his comments after the Memphis game, as long as the referees in the Lakers game are fined comparably for their gross failure to apply the rules correctly in the Lakers game. Absent that assurance, the system of NBA discipline and fines is looking more and more like kangaroo-court.

And as far as I'm concerned, based on what I've read, nothing that Nelson said regarding Fortson or Nájera merited a fine.

Stu Jackson is grossly incompetent for his position, and David Stern is allowing serious damage to the league's image by failing to APPROPRIATELY address the issue. You don't just go around fining owners and coaches and players without addressing the real issue, which is the inconsistency and incompetence of some NBA officials. Maybe the league feels justified in lowering the hammer on the Cubans, Nelsons and Kidds (Kidd was fined $10K the other day for fairly innocuous comments about the officiating in a Nets loss to Memphis), following the attempts to revamp the system of officiating. But maybe they should realize that they haven't done enough yet, and start publically announcing when and how they discipline officials for incompetence.

The NBA is looking more and more like WCF wrestling, and the time may fast be approaching for a little spectator sabbatical.

Cuban fined $100,000 for ripping refs
NBA doesn't leave out Nelson, fines him $7,500 for comments


01:40 AM CST on Sunday, December 7, 2003

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

Don Nelson was fined $7,500 by the NBA on Saturday for comments about officiating, but it was nothing compared to what owner Mark Cuban recently received.

Cuban was fined $100,000 by the NBA for comments about the officiating that he made after the Mavericks' game at Memphis on Nov. 15, three NBA sources said Saturday.

The NBA makes decisions on a case-by-case basis about whether to announce fines. It never released Cuban's latest fine, but the three sources all confirmed the amount.

Cuban went through the entire 2002-03 season without a publicly announced fine. But when he openly questioned numerous calls and non-calls after the Mavericks' overtime loss in Memphis, the league acted.

Following Saturday's game against Orlando, Cuban denied that he was fined.

Nelson, meanwhile, was fined for comments that appeared in newspapers Wednesday, when he said he hoped referees would not be watching Danny Fortson too closely because of the flagrant foul he committed against Phoenix and subsequent suspension.

He mentioned that referees were still watching Eduardo Najera closely for his incidental contact with a referee last season.

As for the amount of the fine, Nelson had no comment, except to say: "That's half of my first year's salary as a player."

[kg_veteran]

I don't even remember what Cuban's comments were, which tells you how impactful they were. I'm glad the NBA is whipping him back into line, what with his gross disrespect for the officiating and all.

Nelson's comments were very general in nature, and they were completely factual.

As Kiki pointed out, where are the fines of those referees from the Lakers game who didn't even know the rules well enough to be able to correctly apply them? Are owners, coaches, players, and even fans not entitled to get upset when a referee doesn't know the rules? When three referees don't know the rules?

WWE or NBA -- which one is more of a fix?

[LoveMyMavs14]

You think at some point, they'd realize that even if they fined him until he was broke, he'd probably still comment on the officiating when he sees fit.

[ReDIRKulous]

If the NBA was "fixed" would it be illegal? I remember Stern saying something about how it would be illegal to control the outcome of the games. Professional Wrestling is a business that is "fixed"... so why is that legal?

[MavKikiNYC]

Originally posted by: ReDIRKulous
If the NBA was "fixed" would it be illegal? I remember Stern saying something about how it would be illegal to control the outcome of the games. Professional Wrestling is a business that is "fixed"... so why is that legal?

Theater v. sport.

[ReDIRKulous]

[b]Theater v. sport[/quote]

That is pretty obvious... but I mean in the eyes of the law. What about boxing? Supposedly it is a sport but it is notorious for its apparent "theatrics". Personally I believe the NBA is fixed... but it isn't overtly fixed. For instance... because Shaq is so popular the head of NBA officiating makes sure that rules are enforced to help him rather than hurt him. I believe that it may go as far as to use certain officals, at specific times that are known for their style of officiating games.