NBA hands Jazz massive fine for violating player participation policy

The league announced on Wednesday in a press statement (X link) that it is fining the Jazz $100K for violating its player participation policy.

Per the NBA, Utah did not properly make one-time All-Star forward Lauri Markkanen available in its March 5 clash with Washington, in addition to other recent contests.

The NBA instituted this kind of punitive treatment for teams sitting top players unnecessarily after it emerged as a major issue in national contests.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via X), the NBA can penalize a club for sitting out specifically a star player who has either not played in a national game, sat out one road game at a team, been shut down or nearly shut down long term while ostensibly healthy, or undergone other unusual resting strategies. Markkanen qualifies as a star contributor thanks to being honored as a 2023 All-Star.

Should the league decide that the Jazz are continuing to unnecessarily rest Markkanen this season, a subsequent fine would run the club $250K.

From the Jazz’s perspective, the team may have been resting its leading scorer to improve its lottery odds. Ironically, Markkanen is having his least-productive season yet among his three years in Utah.

Still, the 7-footer is averaging a solid 19.3 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.6 APG and 0.8 SPG in his 43 available bouts. He inked a four-year, $195.9M extension last summer to stay with Utah through 2027/28.

At 15-50, the Jazz are the only team that has been eliminated from postseason consideration as of this writing. The 13-51 Wizards still mathematically have a chance to make at least the play-in tournament bracket in the weaker Eastern Conference. The 16-48 Hornets and the 18-48 Pelicans could all theoretically finish with the worst record in the league.

The 22-43 Raptors and Nets, and the 22-42 Sixers have the poorest records beyond this group, but could be hard-pressed to catch the others and break into the top four.

The four worst-performing teams by record sport the best chance at nabbing the No. 1 overall selection in the draft.