Mark Cuban fined for talking DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews deals

ByMarc Stein ESPN logo
Tuesday, July 7, 2015

The NBA has fined Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban $25,000 for publicly confirming the team's upcoming free-agent deals with DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Matthews, league spokesman Tim Frank said Tuesday, confirming an ESPN.com report.

Sources said the Mavericks were informed of the fine Tuesday.

Teams and players are allowed to strike verbal agreements on new contracts during the league's annual moratorium period in early July while the league's salary cap and luxury tax figures are being calculated for the coming season, but team officials are not allowed to openly discuss those deals.

Cuban addressed both signings via his Cyber Dust app and did multiple interviews last Friday after Jordan verbally agreed to join the Mavericks on a four-year max deal worth in excess of $80 million.

It's the first known fine Cuban has incurred from new NBA commissioner Adam Silver. Sources, however, say Cuban previously was fined $25,000 for a tweet about the lack of calls for Monta Ellis in March. The tweet later was deleted.

The Mavericks' owner racked up nearly $2 million in fines in clashes with former NBA commissioner David Stern over a 14-year period that began with Cuban's arrival in the league in January 2000.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.