The Utah Jazz were fined for sitting stars Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. late in two recent games. Here's what the NBA and Jazz owner Ryan Smith had to say about the decision.
NBA commissioner says Utah Jazz ‘compromised the integrity of our games,’ fines team largest amount yet Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, left, and the team's president of basketball operations, Austin Ainge, speak during a news conference.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver dropped a half-million-dollar fine on the Utah Jazz on Thursday, the strongest statement the league has taken against Utah’s alleged “tanking.” The $500,000 fine, the NBA said in a news release, was due to “conduct detrimental to the league” in the course of Utah’s games against the Orlando Magic on Feb. 7 and Miami Heat on Feb. 9. In those games, the Jazz sat both of its former All-Stars, Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. in the fourth quarter, “even though these players were otherwise able to continue to play and the outcomes of the games were thereafter in doubt.”Silver gave a strongly worded statement in his decision to fine the Jazz and the Indiana Pacers, who received a $100,000 fine for sitting healthy players in the team’s Feb. 3 game against Utah. “Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games,” Silver said. “Additionally, we are working with our Competition Committee and Board of Governors to implement further measures to root out this type of conduct.”Player Participation Policy , enacted ahead of the 2023-24 season, gives the NBA leeway to “elect in its discretion to investigate and/or impose discipline in other circumstances involving star player non-participation.” Markkanen and Jackson Jr., by making the league’s All-Star Game in one of three seasons before 2025-26, count as star players by the NBA’s policy definition. Utah was fined $100,000 for sitting Markkanen in March 2025 — “as well as other recent games,” the NBA noted at the time. The policy indicates teams are fined $100,000 for their first tanking violation, and $250,000 for their second violation.
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