NBA fines Clippers, Thunder $25K for ‘violating injury report rules’

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The NBA announced Thursday that it had fined the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder $25,000 each for “violating injury report rules.”

The league explained that the Clippers did not report Brandon Boston Jr. and Moussa Diabate’s “accurate game availability status” for a game against the New Orleans Pelicans on October 30. The team had notified the NBA that Boston and Diabate would do G League assignments. However, they played in the game against New Orleans. The Clippers lost the game 91-112.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma City received the penalty for not informing the league of Josh Giddey’s participation in a home game against the Orlando Magic this Tuesday, in which the Thunder won 116-108. Giddey had been out for several games due to a right ankle sprain.

For transparency, the NBA requires teams to report injuries as soon as possible. A player whose status is “out” is confirmed to miss a game. Meanwhile, a “questionable” status means that the player may or may not participate. Teams must notify the NBA of all changes before the game begins. The league updates its injury report hourly 24/7.

Last season, the NBA fined the Phoenix Suns for a similar reason. The Suns had to pay a $25,000 fine for failing to report Devin Booker’s participation in a playoff game against the Pelicans.

Booker had missed three games over a hamstring injury and had been confirmed to be out. Phoenix then upgraded his status to questionable about two hours before the game. Later in pregame, Phoenix head coach Monty Williams confirmed that Booker would join his team to face the Pelicans. Booker participated in the second half of the game, in which the Suns won.

Teams are also required to report missing players. The NBA fined the Philadelphia 76ers in 2021 because they had failed to report that Ben Simmons would not participate in a game against the Denver Nuggets.