Cavs fined $100K for violating league's Player Participation Policy.
Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2025 8:53 pm
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The Player Participation Policy primarily will focus on star players. A star player for purposes of the policy is any player who, in any of the prior three seasons, was selected to an All-NBA Team or an NBA All-Star team. This definition also applies, following a given season’s All-Star Game, to any player who is named an All-Star during that season.
Under the policy, unless a team demonstrates an approved reason for a star player not to participate in a game, then, among other things, the team must:
• Manage its roster to ensure that no more than one star player is unavailable for the same game.
• Ensure that star players are available for all national television and NBA In-Season Tournament games.
• Maintain a balance between the number of one-game absences for a star player in home and road games.
• Refrain from any long-term “shutdowns” in which a star player stops playing games.
• If resting a healthy player, ensure that the player is present at the games and visible to fans.
The policy includes exceptions for injuries, personal reasons and pre-approved back-to-back restrictions based on a player’s age, career workload or serious injury history.
. Automatic League Office Investigation/Discipline
If a star player (as defined in Section C below) misses one or more games involving the circumstances listed below, the league office will investigate
and, subject to the results of the investigation, impose discipline with respect to the following circumstances:
1. Multiple Player Absences in the Same Game: Multiple star players on the same team miss the same game.
2. National Television and In-Season Tournament Games: A star player misses a national television or In-Season Tournament game.
3. Inconsistent Statement(s): A GM, head coach, or other team personnel (including team Governors or investors), a player, or a player representative makes a statement or other representation that contradicts the player’s status on the team’s injury report or as described to the league office