Why does the Mavericks bench keep getting fined by the NBA?

One of the strangest subplots of these NBA playoffs was the Mavericks’ bench being repeatedly fined. What’s happening?

On Sunday afternoon, the This was announced by the NBA that they punish them Dallas Mavericks $100,000 for “Breaking League Rules Regarding Bench Decorum”. This marks the third time this postseason the team has been flagged for the same cause, with an escalating string of fines that now total $175,000.

This is a punishment we don’t see often, and it’s even weirder that the Mavericks have been beaten for it so many times in such a short period of time. The second time they were fined after Game 7 against the Phoenix Suns, the league provided some specific details in the press release:

On several occasions, several players and a member of the coaching staff stood in the Mavericks’ team bench area for extended periods of time, stayed away from the team bench, and were on or in the field during the game in the Mavericks 123-90 win over the Phoenix Suns in Game 7 of their conference semifinal playoff series on May 15 at the Footprint Center.

An essentially word-for-word version of that publication was also offered for the final penalty after Game 2 against the Warriors. Overreaching on the field seems to be a clear problem, but the first part of this description makes it sound like the problem is simply excessive standing.

Why is the Mavericks bench fined by the NBA?

However, there is more to it than that. In Game 2, Theo Pinson, an injured Mavs player who was on the bench with his team, wore a white t-shirt the same color as the Warriors home jerseys. According to Steve KerrPinson waved his hands and called for the ball at one point, confusing Steph Curry into a turnover and passing the ball out of bounds.

For their part, the Mavericks don’t seem concerned or particularly interested in reassuring their bench players. According to ESPN, Jason Kidd told the media he thinks the league is worried about the wrong thing:

“The league is worried about the wrong thing. You have millionaires cheering other millionaires on. Doesn’t happen in this society. And the excitement of the game when a teammate is cheering on another teammate is something special. And I think sometimes we focus on the wrong thing. So if you look at people making a lot of money by cheering on their teammates or their employees, that’s the point of the sport. Getting a fine is cool. It goes to another good cause, charity. But here, too, we are looking at the wrong thing.”

kidd, something famous, was fined $50,000 2013 as the Brooklyn Nets head coach for intentionally spilling a drink on the floor to delay the game while his team ran out of time-outs. So all in all, it’s not the first time Kidd has tried to capitalize on this by breaking the fourth wall.