Why Did NBA Fine Jazz $500K, Pacers $100K Over Roster Management Decisions?

A pair of NBA teams have picked up hefty fines related to roster management rules.

The league announced Thursday that the Utah Jazz have been fined $500,000 for "conduct detrimental to the league" after Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. did not play late in games against the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat last week despite the two contests being close.

The Indiana Pacers landed a $100,000 fine from the league because Pascal Siakam and two other players "could have played under the medical standard in the Policy" in a Feb. 3 contest against the Jazz.

Jazz owner Ryan Smith was not a fan of the fine.

The Jazz lost their game to Orlando but won against Miami. Indiana lost its matchup against Utah.

The NBA implemented the Player Participation Policy ahead of the 2023-24 season in hopes of combating star players missing games when healthy. The new policy replaced the Player Resting Policy, which was put in place prior to the 2017-18 campaign.

The policy defines a star player as one who has made an All-NBA Team or an NBA All-Star team in any of the last three seasons. Markkanen, Jackson and Siakam all fit that description.

According to the policy, if a team does not demonstrate "an approved reason for a star player not to participate in a game," it must:

• Manage its roster to ensure that no more than one star player is unavailable for the same game.
• Ensure that star players are available for all national television and NBA In-Season Tournament games.
• Maintain a balance between the number of one-game absences for a star player in home and road games.
• Refrain from any long-term "shutdowns" in which a star player stops playing games.
• If resting a healthy player, ensure that the player is present at the games and visible to fans.

Essentially, if a star player is healthy, there are a few cases in which he shouldn't be on the court.

Both the Jazz and Pacers have plenty of motivation to keep their star players off the court this year. Utah is currently sitting in 13th place in the West at 18-37 while Indiana is in second-to-last place in the East at 15-40.

The two teams have likely shifted their focus towards the draft and ensuring they help their chances in the lottery, but they'll still have to abide by the rules to avoid picking up anymore fines.