The organization is alleged to have orchestrated the loss against the Bulls in order to be able to keep the first-round pick of the 2023 NBA Draft.
“The Dallas Mavericks’ decision to restrict key players from fully participating in an elimination game last Friday against Chicago undermined the integrity of our sport,” said Joe Dumars - NBA Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations.
“The Mavericks’ actions failed our fans and our league.”
The NBA stated that they have determined that the players who participated in the Chicago Bulls game were not playing to win.
They are being penalized for violating the NBA’s player resting policy.
On April 7, they were in a position to win against the Bulls but they instead rested several of their players, including healthy players Luka Doncic, who only played a total of 12 minutes and 35 seconds.
Maverick’s Coach Jason Kidd said before the game that team owner Mark Cuban had made an “organizational decision” to limit Doncic in the first quarter.
The team also later sat out Kyrie Irving.
“It’s not so much waving the white flag,” Kidd said at the time.
“Its decisions sometimes are hard in this business. We’re trying to build a championship team. With this decision, this is maybe a step back. But hopefully, it leads to going forward.”