Miami Heat owner Micky Arison fined
$500,000 by NBA over twitter comments – NBA News
The NBA has fined Miami Heat owner Micky Arison after he made public comments, regarding the NBA lockout.
The fine imposed, $500,000, is the harshest ever on any NBA owner in relation to the lockout issue.
NBA Commissioner David Stern imposed the heavy fine after Arison repeatedly talked about the NBA lockout on the social networking website twitter. Stern has issued a gag order to NBA owners over the lockout because he wants to
be the only mouth piece for the league.
Other than consolidating Stern’s power in the NBA, the measure is also aimed at presenting a united front of the owners. However, it has become increasingly apparent over the last few months, that it is a false front and fierce
differences exist among the NBA owners.
Take the example of Arison. When a fan tweeted on his account that: "How's it feel to be a part of ruining the best game in the world? NBA owners/players don't give a d**n about fans∧ guess what? Fans provide all the money you're
fighting over&you greedy (expletive) pigs.”
Arison replied: "You are barking at the wrong owner."
The comment was posted by Arison through a verified twitter account and he deleted it a few hours later. However, it stayed on for long enough to come to the notice of many NBA owners and a big number of NBA fans.
The majority of the owners were incensed. A large part of the league’s owners, most of them who have acquired NBA franchises recently just because they want to squeeze out some money from them, are behind the NBA’s hard and greedy
stance in the current lockout.
They were appalled at Arison because his comment more or less confirmed that it is those new owners of smaller market teams, rather than those who run bigger market operations like the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks, that
are causing all the turmoil.
Therefore it is believed pressure was put on Stern to impose a heavy fine, and the commissioner, eager to please a majority of his board of governors, proceeded to make an example out of Arison.
A $500,000 fine is five times as much as Michael Jordan was fined recently, even though his break of the code of silence was even more severe; he gave a whole interview and even mentioned an NBA player, Andrew Bogut of the Milwaukee
Bucks, by name.
However, Jordan painted a picture of the owners being the victims, so he escaped with a slap on the wrist. Arison though has faced the full brunt and it could be cause for concern for other owners who want to have an NBA season
but are getting outvoted on the board.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not represent Bettor.com’s editorial policy.
Tags: