The NBA is the league every basketballer wants to play in. This league has entertained us with some fascinating players and contests.
Of course, the NBA is extensively covered by bookmakers, including bookmaker crypto sites.
But to maintain the eliteness of the league, the authorities have been on their toes, ensuring players who disregard rules don’t go scot-free.
As a result, there have been several hefty and somewhat extraordinary fines given to parties who flouted the regulations.
During its 76-year history, the NBA has fined players, managers, and even whole teams.
This article will discuss the five biggest fines players have gotten in the history of the NBA.
Vladimir Radmanovic -$500,000
Radmanovic got slapped with one of the highest single fines in NBA player history in 2007.
The NBA has a strict rule against its players involved in extreme sports outside of basketball.
So when Radmanovic went on a snowboarding trip and got a shoulder injury, he had to miss out on 25 team games for his team.
The then-LA Lakers player was given a hefty $500,000, which was almost 10% of his contract with the Lakers team.
Although some fans believed the fan was quite extreme and ridiculous, the Serbian player expressed relief that his contract was not voided and all he got was a fine.
Radmanovic paid up his fine and played games for the LA Lakers and other teams before his eventual retirement in 2013.
Kyrie Irving – $408,445
Kyrie Irving is currently one of the more controversial basketball players in the NBA. He has been known to voice his dissent over several decisions made by the organization.
In the 2020/21 season, Irving’s appearance on the court for the Brooklyn Nets was irregular. In addition, he was fined $50,000 for violating the NBA’s safety protocols when a video of him in a gathering without a nose mask surfaced.
He was also fined $408,445 for each game he missed during a 5-day quarantine period, which cost him over $1 million.
More recently, Irving has been fined by the Nets for tweeting anti-Semitic comments and refusing to back down.
Ben Simmons – $381,181
Ben Simmons had a disappointing game during the 2021 Philadelphia 76ers vs Atlanta Hawks playoffs. He passed up a scoring opportunity during the game, and this led to the Sixers exiting the playoffs early.
A large percentage of people blamed Simmons for the botched score, and the head coach questioned his ability as the starting point guard during an interview after the match.
There was a swift fallout, and Simmons requested a trade from the team. He refused to train with the team during that period and missed his pre-season games.
He was fined $381,181 for the consecutive days he missed playing.
Simmons never played for the Sixers again and was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in February 2022.
Damon Stoudamire- $250,000
During his basketball playing days, Damon Stoudamire was a fine player and, at several times, was the star player in his respective teams. However, he is not without a scar.
In 2003, Stoudamire was arrested three times for marijuana possession. He was at that time the star point guard for the Portland Trailblazers and was looked up in the team and among fans.
The NBA management decided to fine the point guard $250,000 for illicit possession as this flagrantly flouts the organization’s laws. Everyone felt they were justified. Portland also suspended Stoudamire for a while and helped him to get treatment.
Latrell Sprewell – $250,000
During his professional basketball playing days, Sprewell got a fine from the New York Knicks for keeping an injury secret. He reportedly got a fractured hand during the off-season and withheld the information from the team.
However, he could not play and was out of commission for six weeks. The management of the New York Knicks was put out by his deception and fined him $250,000.
As of then, it was the highest fine ever placed on a player by the team instead of the NBA management. The NBA obviously supported the decision as the penalty was upheld.
Paying its players millions of dollars, the NBA is most often justified in dishing out fines to erring members of the organization.
Here is our five biggest NBA fines list, and we hope you enjoyed it. Please drop your comments about fines in the NBA in the comments section.