5 most expensive fines in NBA history

#3 Vladimir Radmanovic - $500,000

Vladimir Radmanovic attempts to block Andrew Bynum of the LA Lakers

During the 2006-07 NBA season, LA Lakers player Vladimir Radmanovic was fined by the franchise to the tune of $500,000 for snowboarding.

It seemed to be an act of going overboard by the Lakers organization, but the NBA has strict rules against extreme sports such as snowboarding and others of the sort. These rules have been put in place to ensure the safety and health of the players.

In Radmanovic's case, the Lakers player suffered an injury to the shoulder while snowboarding in the city of Utah. As a key player in the LA roster, Radmanovic missed 25 games for the team due to the injury. With a hefty fine that cost him almost 10% of his contract with the LA Lakers, Radmanovic voiced his relief that they only fined him and didn't void his contract instead.

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#2 Mark Cuban - $600,000

Mark Cuban at a Dallas Mavericks vs Detroit Pistons game

Mark Cuban is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks. Known for his passionate involvement in the team, the Mavericks owner has been at the receiving end of several fines from the NBA. With over 20 such fines amounting to $3.1 million, Cuban is no stranger to penalties from the NBA.

However, his biggest penalty came during the 2017-18 NBA season. The league levied a heavy charge of $600,000 on the Dallas Mavericks owner for his comments about the tanking culture in the NBA.

After a poor season, Cuban spoke to NBA legend Julius Erving and mentioned that the Mavericks' best option for the rest of the season was to tank to have some stability heading into the draft.

Mark Cuban later clarified that he said the wrong things and attributed that to being starstruck by a childhood idol, the NBA penalized the Mavericks owner. However, Cuban also has a habit of matching his fines by donating the same amount of money to charities of his choice.

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#1 Minnesota Timberwolves - $3.5 million

Kevin McHale was the Minnesota Timberwolves' vice president from 1995 to 2008

What is potentially the most expensive fine in the history of the NBA happened during the 2000 NBA offseason. The league came down hard on the Minnesota Timberwolves, as they attempted to illegally acquire a player named Joe Smith.

As the story unfolded, Smith signed with the Timberwolves for $1.75 million for a one-year deal in 1999. While this was a highly undervalued contract, it didn't raise much suspicion. However, the Timberwolves planned to sign Smith to consecutive three one-year deals so that they could acquire his bird rights and go over the salary cap when they gave him his extension.

After the documents regarding these illegal activities were revealed during a lawsuit follwing a split between the agents representing Smith and Kevin Garnett, the NBA fined the Timberwolves $3.5 million and five first-round picks.

The NBA also voided Joe Smith's contract, thus denying the Timberwolves his bird rights. Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor was also suspended along with VP Kevin McHale, who took a leave of absence after the incident, denying any knowledge of the proceedings.