NBA Slaps Dallas Mavericks With $50,000 Bench Decorum Fine, The Team’s Second Of The Playoffs

For the second time during the postseason, the NBA has fined the Dallas Mavericks. The league announced Wednesday that it fined the Mavericks $50,000 for violating the rules regarding team bench decorum. This is the second such fine Dallas has received.

According to a statement released by Byron Spruell, president, of league operations, the most recent incident took place in the Mavericks’ 123-90 blowout Game 7 win over the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference semifinals. Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd is not sure why the league issued the fine.

“I know about the fine,” Kidd said before Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. “I’m just trying to figure out what we did wrong to get the fine–we’ll see tomorrow–and then who complained. It was a blowout, so I don’t think the fans were complaining.”

The behavior the league describes as warranting the fine was Mavericks players and coaching staff standing for extended periods in the bench area, standing away from the team bench and encroaching upon the playing court.

It’s an almost verbatim description of the bench’s behavior that netted the team’s first decorum fine. This one, however, is twice as much as the $25,000 one they received for their conduct during Game 2 against the Suns.

Kidd dismissed the first fine as the league focused on the wrong thing. All season, Dallas’ bench has been engaged from buzzer to buzzer, cheering on the players on the court. It is not only a motivating factor for the team, but it also builds trust, Dorian Finney-Smith said.

“I thought the guys did what they were supposed to do,” Kidd said. “They were cheering on their guys. So, we’ll find out what the fine is. But it is what it is.”