Utah Jazz team owner Ryan Smith was in no mood to hear any comments after the NBA slapped the franchise with a $500,000 fine regarding roster management issues. The league fined the Jazz after the club removed two of its star players, Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr., late in games against the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat.
The topic of “tanking” games has become a hot-button issue around the NBA at this moment. The Jazz, after losing 135-119 to the Portland Trail Blazers at home on Thursday night, are now 18-38 for the season.
Jazz Owner Ryan Smith Bites Back at ESPN NBA Insider
When an ESPN NBA Insider decided to offer his comments about the Jazz, Smith had a quick comeback on Thursday. ESPN NBA Insider Bobby Marks, after the NBA announced its fine against the Jazz, made his feelings known in a post on X.
“Tanking fines is like paying the luxury tax in the prior CBA,” Marks wrote. “If it gives you a competitive advantage, or in this case, a chance to draft (and keep) an impact player, billionaire owners will pay the fine. Now if we start taking away roster resources, that’s a different story.”
Well, Smith wasn’t too happy with Marks’ comments. In his own post on X, Smith shared his own thoughts about the situation and aimed them right at Marks.
Hey Bobby… maybe sit this one out. You have no clue what paying this is like and your amnesia this week is comical. https://t.co/NTFHgaPr7F
— Ryan Smith (@RyanQualtrics) February 13, 2026
“Hey Bobby… maybe sit this one out,” Smith wrote. “You have no clue what paying this is like and your amnesia this week is comical.”
According to a release from NBA Communications that was shared on X, the league fined the Jazz “for conduct detrimental to the league” in regard to the games against the Magic and Heat on Feb. 7 and 9, respectively.
The NBA noted that Markkanen and Jackson were removed “before the beginning of the fourth quarter and did not return to the game, even though these players were otherwise able to continue to play and the outcomes of the games were thereafter in doubt.”
“Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.
“Additionally, we are working with our Competition Committee and Board of Governors to implement further measures to root out this type of conduct,” Silver said.
Only the New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings have worse overall records in the 2025-26 NBA season than the Jazz going into the All-Star break.
