The NBA will investigate the Dallas Mavericks’ decision to leave out several key players in Friday’s loss to the Chicago Bulls that eliminated the team from Western Conference play-in contention.
“The NBA today began an investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding the Dallas Mavericks’ roster decisions and game conduct with respect to last night’s Chicago Bulls-Mavericks game, including the motivations behind those actions,” the NBA said. Saturday afternoon NBA spokesman Mike Bass.
Dallas entered the day tied with the Bulls for 10th place with the best lottery odds and owes the New York Knicks a protected top-10 pick as final payment for the Kristaps Porzingis trade.
Mavs coach Jason Kidd called it an “organizational decision” to rest most of Dallas’ regular rotation and credited owner Mark Cuban and general manager Nico Harrison for the pick.
The Mavs announced Friday morning that All-Star guard Kyrie Irving (right foot injury), guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (left ankle soreness), forward Josh Green (rest) and power forward Maxi Kleber (right hamstring) and Christian Wood (rest) would not play against the Bulls, essentially for precautionary reasons.
All-Star guard Luka Doncic played the first 12 minutes, 35 seconds before sitting out the rest of the game.
“It’s not so much about waving the white flag,” Kidd said after the game. “Is [que] decisions are sometimes difficult in this business. We are trying to build a championship team. With this decision, this is perhaps a step backwards. But I hope it carries us forward.” The Mavs don’t plan to use Doncic or any of the players who didn’t play against the Bulls in Sunday’s season finale against the San Antonio Spurs, Kidd said.
Cuban, who paid a $600,000 fine in 2018 for publicly admitting the Mavs were going under, said Wednesday night that “of course I understand” the fan thought process that protecting the lottery position is the way to go. Dallas’ smartest strategy down the stretch. “The guys don’t want to do that,” Cuban said Wednesday. “The players are not going to do that. The players are not going to do that.” Cuban has not responded to requests for comment about the organization’s decision to sideline several players or the league’s investigation.
