Because NBA teams have gotten a little too comfortable with load management, the NBA itself has gotten a little more hands-on about what counts as load management. In so doing, they punish teams that hold their players out for that supposed reason.
The Cleveland Cavaliers definitely exerted this strategy when they held out Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley during their game against the Miami Heat. The NBA took swift action.
What Punishment Did the NBA Give the Cavaliers?
ESPN’s Shams Charania revealed that the NBA fined the Cavaliers a hefty amount for not playing Mitchell or Mobley.
“The NBA fined the Cleveland Cavaliers $100,000 for violating the league’s Player Participation Policy when the team held Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley out of the team’s game against the Miami Heat on Nov. 12 for rest,” Charania wrote.
The NBA fined the Cleveland Cavaliers $100,000 for violating the league’s Player Participation Policy when the team held Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley out of the team’s game against the Miami Heat on Nov. 12 for rest.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 18, 2025
As irony would have it, the Cavaliers wound up beating the Heat anyway, even without Mitchell and Mobley, two of the team’s three best players. Thanks to the efforts of Jarrett Allen, Lonzo Ball, Craig Porter Jr., and De’Andre Hunter, the Cavaliers won 130-116, and in South Beach, no less.
However, the bigger headline is that the NBA is making it clear that they don’t want teams doing this. These kinds of actions upset fans who paid good money to not only see teams like the Cavaliers at full strength, but also paid to see players Mitchell and Mobley play. Holding them out loses fan trust, which may lead them to believe they shouldn’t buy tickets to attend games.
However, whether the message will stick is another matter. $100,000 is definitely insurmountable to most people, but in the NBA, that’s like being forced to fork over a $20 bill for them. No one would want to do that, but they will happily live without it.
Teams may either think that kind of punishment isn’t nearly severe enough to deter them from doing it, or they may simply think of ways to circumvent being punished for those actions.
It would be great if the Cavaliers don’t do something like this again, or any other NBA team for that matter. However, only receiving a $100k fine seems light and doesn’t seem like it would send a harsh enough message. At the same time, it’s like tanking. The NBA can mitigate how much teams can do that, but it may never be able to get rid of it.
