NBA Takes a Page From NASCAR’s Controversial Rulebook in Dealing a $750,000 Blow to Luka Doncic & Kyrie Irving’s Team

Earlier, there was drama in the NBA arena when the Dallas Mavericks were slapped with a hefty $750,000 fine. As it turned out, the team had rested some of their key players when they faced the Chicago Bulls.

Naturally, the NBA was not too impressed with this stunt, and in their words, it was “conduct detrimental to the league”.

Among the missing names were Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Apparently, this kind of scenario closely mirrored a NASCAR rule about competing in every race.

According to reports, the Mavericks violated NBA policy on resting players. In essence, the organization was given the impression that the team was trying to intentionally lose the game. Had the Mavericks lost, their chances of keeping their first-round pick in the 2023 NBA draft would have been better.

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Irving sat out for the whole game, while Luka Doncic only played in the first quarter.

What NASCAR rule did NBA get their inspiration from?

All the way back in 2013, NASCAR introduced a regulation, dictating some ethics in racing. The crux of the matter was that the drivers were expected to race at “100 percent of their ability.” Their goal had to be to achieve their best possible finishing position in any event. So basically, the drivers should not deliberately underperform on the racetrack.

As per ESPN, NASCAR’s then-chairman, Mike Helton, had said, “Any competitor who takes action with the intent to artificially alter the finishing positions of the event. Or encourages, persuades or induces others to artificially alter the finishing position of the event shall be subject to a penalty from NASCAR.”

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Now, it looks like the NBA has adopted this particular rule for their own purposes. Safe to say, it came at the expense of the Dallas Mavericks. The team may have tried to be strategic in their approach to the Bulls game, by resting the best players. However, the NBA viewed it as unsportsmanlike and sought to punish the Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving-led team.