Cuban Slammed with $250,000 Fine

June 20, 2006 — -- DALLAS -- Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been fined $250,000 for several acts of misconduct following Game 5 of the NBA Finals, the league said Tuesday.

Reported fines levied by NBA against Mark Cuban Total Fines 13 Fines of $200,000+ 4 Fines of $100,000+ 8 Total fine amount $1,665,000

When time ran out in Game 5, Cuban ran onto the court to vent at official Joe DeRosa, then stared down and screamed toward Stern and a group of league officials, from the court, then the stands.

In his blog on Tuesday, the Dallas Mavericks owner responded to a column in the Miami Herald that described this post-Game 5 scene: "Cuban then turned to Stern and other NBA officials who were seated at the scorer's table and was overheard to shout venomously in the jubilant din, '[Bleep] you! [Bleep] you! Your league is rigged!' "

Cuban wrote that instead of yelling at Stern, he didn't say a word to the commissioner. Cuban also adamantly affirmed that he believes game outcomes are determined on the court, not in the league office.

"The games are not rigged," Cuban wrote. "That's a complete insult to the players on the court and the incredible amount of effort they put into preparing for and playing the games. All 82 regular-season and postseason games.

"The NBA couldn't rig the games if it wanted to. And it doesn't want to. It's that simple."

That sounds more like the owner Stern would like to hear. He said Tuesday that he believes Cuban's more vitriolic outbursts are "not healthy for either him or the game."

"I don't think he is crazy. I think he is smart. I think his recent loss of self control is not planned and not calculated, and I think if he could, he would like to have some of it back," Stern said in an interview on San Francisco radio station KNBR. "Because at bottom, I really do believe it distracts the players and that can't be good. It sets a bad tone.

"He is very smart, he has to take credit and should be given credit for putting together a great team and giving his fans the entertainment experience in that building which is terrific. But at times I think he loses control and that is not healthy for either him or the game."