NBA fines Nets $100K for violating load management rule

The Nets have been fined $100,000 for violating the league’s player participation policy, NBA director of basketball operations Joe Dumars announced.

“We’ve been very clear with teams what we are trying to accomplish, and what we’d like to see,” Dumars said, via Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “And, if I’m just cutting to the chase, if you’re going to sit four starters at one time, that’s going to violate the policy and it violates the spirit of what we’re trying to do here.”

In a loss to Milwaukee last week, Brooklyn opted to sit Nic Claxton, Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and Cameron Johnson all sat out entirely. Coach Jacque Vaughn also pulled Mikal Bridges, Cam Thomas and Royce O’Neale after the first quarter. None of those three returned to the game.

Bridges, the team’s leading scorer, admitted to reporters after the game he was “not a fan” of the move. Decisions such as these generally come from the front office and medical staff, as opposed to Vaughn and the players.

“My ideal world of communication is that I present the information to you, I’m upfront with it — and I’m talking about not just you guys, I’m talking about players when I have the communication with them — and that they understand that I have to make a choice, and the choice will be made,” Vaughn said last week, via Brian Lewis of the New York Post.