As the NBA faces ongoing concerns about tanking, Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle fired back at the league over its recent $100,000 Player Participation Policy fine, calling the discipline “ridiculous” and “shocking.”
During a radio interview with 93.5 The Fan Tuesday, Feb. 24, Carlisle publicly addressed the fine for the first time and centered his rebuke around the availability of guard Aaron Nesmith during a Feb. 3 game against the Jazz, a 131-122 Utah victory.
“I didn’t agree with it,” Carlisle said during the interview. “There was a league lawyer that was doing the interview that kind of unilaterally decided that Aaron Nesmith, who had been injured the night before and couldn’t hold the ball, should’ve played in the game, which seems ridiculous.”
The league announced the discipline Feb. 12, just days before the NBA All-Star Game. Headed into the game, the Pacers were 13-37 and continuing to languish in last place in the Eastern Conference.
For its part, the NBA responded to Carlisle’s allegations, disputing his account.
“Coach Carlisle’s description of the process that went into the decision to fine the Indiana Pacers is inaccurate,” an NBA spokesperson said in a statement sent to USA TODAY Sports. “An independent physician led the medical review. In addition, the Pacers’ General Manager and the team’s Senior Vice President, Sports Medicine and Performance were interviewed as part of the process.
“The Pacers confirmed that it had provided all of the information requested by the league and the team reported that an interview with Coach Carlisle or a team physician wasn’t necessary.”
After pushing the eventual-champion Oklahoma City Thunder to Game 7 of the NBA Finals, the Pacers have struggled to compete this year because of injuries, most notably the ruptured Achilles tendon star point guard Tyrese Haliburton suffered early in that Game 7.
Indiana is currently 15-43, which is last place in the East and the NBA’s second-worst record.
“During the interview process — I was not on it, but I heard details — we asked them if they wanted to talk to the doctors, our doctors about it, because it was something that was documented by our doctors and trainers,” Carlisle continued. “They said no, they didn’t need to, they talked to their doctors, who did not examine Aaron Nesmith. And we asked them if they wanted to talk to the kid, and they said no, they didn’t need to.
“This was shocking to me. During the interview, they also asked if we considered medicating him to play in a game when we were 30 games under .500, so I was very surprised.”
During the radio interview, however, Carlisle didn’t discuss the statuses of All-Star forward Pascal Siakam — who was directly named in the disciplinary memo — and another, unnamed “star player” under the league’s Player Participation Policy.
In the letter, the NBA said Siakam and the two star players “could have played under the medical standard in the Policy, including by playing reduced minutes” and added that “the team could have held the players out of other games in a way that would have better promoted compliance with the Policy.”
Presumably, the other star player the league was referencing was either shooting guard Bennedict Mathurin (rest) or point guard Andrew Nembhard (injury/illness); both recorded DND (did-not-dress) designations for the game.
Siakam’s DND was given a rest designation.
Guard T.J. McConnell and center Micah Potter also did not dress, with injury/illness designations.
“Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Feb. 12 in a statement. “Additionally, we are working with our Competition Committee and Board of Governors to implement further measures to root out this type of conduct.”
In the same disciplinary announcement, the Jazz were also fined $500,000 for separate game management decisions related to tanking.