Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle sounded off Tuesday about his team’s recent fine for tanking, calling the process the NBA used to dock the Pacers $100,000 “ridiculous.”
Carlisle also said the NBA suggested the Pacers medicate Aaron Nesmith, who was sidelined with a left-hand strain, so that he could play in the Feb. 3 game against the Utah Jazz. This was the same game the league said Indiana violated the NBA’s player participation policy.
“I didn’t agree with it,” Carlisle said on 107.5 The Fan. “There was a league lawyer that was doing the interview that kind of unilaterally decided that Aaron Nesmith, who had been injured the night before and couldn’t hold the ball, should have played in the game, which just seems ridiculous.
“… We asked them if they wanted to talk to the doctors, our doctors, about it because it was something that was documented by our doctors and trainers,” Carlisle continued. “They said no, they didn’t need to. They talked to their doctors, who did not examine Aaron Nesmith. And we asked them if they wanted to talk to the kid (Nesmith), and they said, no, they didn’t need to. This was shocking to me, and during the interview, they also asked if we considered medicating him to play in a game when we were 30 games under .500.”
The NBA fined the Utah Jazz and the Pacers $500,000 and $100,000, respectively, on Feb. 12, for what it deemed as tanking. Utah was specifically dinged for “conduct detrimental to the league” because of its substitution patterns in the Feb. 7 and Feb. 9 games against the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat, respectively. The Pacers were penalized for not adhering to the player participation policy in its aforementioned matchup with the Jazz.
The NBA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Athletic.
After its investigation of the Pacers, the league ruled that starters Pascal Siakam, Andrew Nembhard and Nesmith were all healthy enough to play and therefore should have participated in the team’s narrow loss to the Jazz.
According to the NBA’s player participation policy, an independent physician is appointed to evaluate the validity of a player’s absence using two factors:
1. A review of the player’s medical information, “including any contemporaneous team physician or training notes, imaging and related reports, and second opinion records” that could hinder him from playing.
2. If that is the case, could the player still play in the game “without substantial risk of exacerbating or worsening that injury, illness, or other medical condition,” play reduced minutes in the game or miss another game “that would have better promoted compliance with the policy.”
Indiana ultimately lost that Feb. 3 game against the Jazz, which was the second night of a back-to-back and its third game in four nights. The Pacers, who have been decimated by injuries this season, are entering Tuesday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers with the worst record in the Eastern Conference at 15-43.
Losing the rest of the season does behoove the Pacers, especially after they landed center Ivica Zubac in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers. As part of the deal, Indiana sent the Clippers a 2026 first-round pick that is top-four protected.
In other words, the pick only goes to LA if Indiana lands between the fifth and ninth spots in this year’s NBA Draft Lottery. If the Pacers’ 2026 first-round pick lands in the top four or any spot after No. 10, LA would then receive Indiana’s unprotected 2031 first-round pick. The Pacers currently have a 52.1 percent chance of landing a top-four pick and, therefore, retaining their 2026 first-round selection.