Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle publicly criticized the NBA’s investigation into a $100,000 fine issued to the team, calling the process “shocking” and alleging that league officials asked whether injured forward Aaron Nesmith could have been medicated to make him available for a game.
Carlisle described the investigation during a radio interview, stating that the league’s lawyer determined Nesmith should have played despite the forward being injured the night before. Carlisle said Nesmith “couldn’t hold the ball” at the time of the game in question and that the Pacers offered to make their team doctors available to discuss the injury. He said the league declined.
Carlisle says NBA did not examine Nesmith or speak with Pacers’ medical staff
Carlisle said the league’s medical review was conducted without direct examination of Nesmith and without consulting the Pacers’ team doctors. “They talked to their doctors who did not examine Aaron Nesmith, and we asked them if they wanted to talk to the kid, and they said no,” Carlisle said.
He added that during the investigation, league representatives asked whether the team had considered medicating Nesmith to allow him to participate. Carlisle described that question as “unbelievable” and said the interview was the first time he had publicly detailed the specifics of the league’s process. The Pacers were approximately 30 games below .500 at the time of the incident.
$100,000 fine issued under NBA’s tanking enforcement policies
The fine falls under the NBA’s player participation framework, which was implemented before the 2023-24 season. The policy requires players to appear in at least 65 games to qualify for major awards and establishes guidelines restricting when teams may rest healthy players designated as “star players,” particularly during nationally televised games. Teams face financial penalties when the league determines those rules have been violated.
The Pacers’ $100,000 fine is one of several penalties the league has issued this season as part of heightened tanking enforcement. The Utah Jazz were fined $500,000 under the same framework. Commissioner Adam Silver has publicly stated that tanking is “worse this year than we’ve seen in recent memory” and has told general managers that draft lottery reforms are expected before the 2026-27 season.
Dispute centers on who determines whether an injured player is fit to play
The core issue in Carlisle’s objection is the authority to determine a player’s medical availability. NBA teams employ their own medical staffs to document injuries, administer treatment, and make availability decisions. The league office maintains separate oversight mechanisms and can review those decisions when competitive integrity rules are triggered.
Carlisle’s account describes a process in which the league reached its conclusion without examining the player, without consulting the team’s doctors, and without interviewing Nesmith himself. The NBA has not publicly released detailed findings from the investigation beyond confirming the fine.
Fine stands as Carlisle does not announce formal appeal
The $100,000 penalty remains in effect under the NBA’s current enforcement structure. Carlisle made clear he disagreed with both the process and the outcome but did not indicate during his comments that the Pacers would file a formal appeal.
Carlisle’s decision to go public with the details of the investigation adds a new dimension to the league’s tanking enforcement debate. The allegation that league officials suggested medicating an injured player to meet availability requirements raises questions about where the boundary falls between competitive integrity enforcement and medical decision-making authority that has traditionally belonged to team physicians.