The truth in the case of the NBA is that common folks like you or me may never know with 100% certainty. The quick and easy answer is that the NBA donates fines to charities. But not so fast. Of the four major sports leagues (NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL) the NBA is the only one that does not publicly share the charitable organizations to which it donates fine money.
When a fine is served, the money is split evenly between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). After this split, each organization donates its portion to a charity of their choosing. However, by refusing to announce to which charity the money goes, the validity of this system is frankly unknown.
In addition to not announcing the charities to which player fines are donated, there is another variable that further complicates this issue. According to a former league spokesman, there is no rule defining where fines against teams, owners or refs must go. That means that the $3.5 million fine against the Timberwolves and the $1.8 million in fines from Mark Cuban could simply be lining David Stern’s pockets. Since the NBA doesn’t formally announce where any of this money goes, there’s no way to prove the NBA’s claims that the money goes to charity. That being said, I am inclined to trust the NBA on this matter, believing that they are donating the money to a good cause, but the case for skepticism is there.
In total the NBA has donated $12 million+ in fines, plus an additional estimated $50 million+ in surrendered wages from suspensions to charity since 2003. To date, NBA Cares, the league’s own charitable organization started in 2005, has donated more than $210 million to charity. That’s nearly three times the amount donated from fines. Wherever the specific money from fines may go, it is clear that the NBA is at least donating a healthy amount to a good cause each year.
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Concept Developed By: Brett Cohen, Andrew Powell-Morse
Written By: Andrew Powell-Morse
Graphic Design: Christopher Mathews
Andrew Powell-Morse is a sports writer from San Antonio, Texas. He is an avid fan of all sports, but the Spurs hold a special place in his heart. He is Head of Data, Analytics and Editorial Content for SeatCrunch.com, where he writes for their data visualization blog, Crunchology. You can email him or you can follow him on twitter.