NEW YORK, March 17 (UPI) -- The NBA on Wednesday fined controversial Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban $10,000 for what the league said were "inappropriate public comments."
The remarks were made following a game with the San Antonio Spurs on March 5.
Cuban said after the Mavericks' 113-100 loss that he would pay any fines levied against his players if they used a "ball swipe" against the Spurs' Bruce Bowen.
Such a move allows a player to create more space from a defender.
In the March 5 game, Bowen and the Mavs' Michael Finley had a skirmish in which Finley was ejected for delivering a forearm to Bowen's shoulder after Bowen had shoved his opponent to the floor.
The Mavericks complained afterwards that Bowen was able to get away with overly physical play.
Fines are nothing new to Cuban, who has received some $1 million in fines over the past three years.
