Suns Fined $25K for Not Properly Disclosing Devin Booker's Injury Designation

The NBA announced that it has fined the Phoenix Suns $25,000 for a violation of injury reporting rules regarding shooting guard Devin Booker:

Booker suffered a Grade 1 right hamstring strain in Game 2 of the Suns' first-round playoff series against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Per ESPN, early projections had him missing two to three weeks, but he returned nine days later for Game 6.

The NBA said the Suns "failed" to reveal Booker's status "in an accurate and timely manner" prior to the matchup, hence the fine.

The Suns won the series four games to two.

As Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic noted, the Suns officially ruled Booker out with the hamstring strain within 24 hours of Game 6 starting on Thursday.

Rankin posted an image of the 7:30 p.m. ET Wednesday injury report that listed Booker as out.

The issue is with this part:

"NBA teams must report information concerning player injuries, illnesses and rest for all NBA games. By 5 p.m. local time on the day before a game (other than the second day of a back-to-back), teams must designate a participation status and identify a specific injury, illness or potential instance of a healthy player resting for any player whose participation in the game may be affected by such injury, illness or rest."

There was an inkling that Booker could return for Game 6 on Wednesday when ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported some hopeful news:

Booker was ruled out, but the Suns later announced that the star shooting guard was upgraded to questionable two hours before the game.

Ninety minutes before game time, Suns head coach Monty Williams told reporters that Booker would play.

Booker ended up posting 13 points, five rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes to help the Suns win 115-109. They'll open their second-round series against the Dallas Mavericks at home on Monday.