For the second time this season, the NBA fined the Cleveland Cavaliers for violating the league’s Player Participation Policy, this time for holding All-Star guard Darius Garland out of a nationally televised game against the Toronto Raptors on Nov. 24.
The $250,000 fine was announced by the league Thursday in a release that said the NBA’s investigation “confirmed that Garland, a star player under the policy, was able to play in one of the team’s two games on Nov. 23 against the LA Clippers and Nov. 24 against the Toronto Raptors.”
Garland, who has been managing a toe injury this season, played at home Nov. 23 in the locally televised games against LA but was unavailable for the game the next night in Toronto, which was carried by Peacock. The Cavaliers cited “Left Great Toe; Injury Management” as the reason for Garland’s absence for the Nov. 24 game.
The Cavaliers were previously assessed a $100,000 fine for violating the policy when Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley sat out a Nov. 12 game against the Miami Heat because of “rest.” After the fine was issued, Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said his team didn’t do anything wrong and he has to “look at the Cavs’ best interest.”
The policy, which was approved by the NBA Board of Governors ahead of the 2023-2024 season, focuses on the availability of star players. Teams must make these players “available for all national television and NBA In-Season Tournament games” unless they have an approved medical reason not to play.
For the purposes of the policy, a star player is anyone who was named to an All-NBA or All-Star team in any of the last three seasons. Garland, 25, was an All-Star last season.
If a team rests a star without an approved medical reason, the NBA can levy a $100,000 fine for the first violation. The second violation is $250,000, and for each successive violation, the team can be fined $1 million more than its previous penalty. If the league sticks to this structure, the Cavaliers’ next violation could be for $1.25 million.