Photo Credit: Bob Donnan, Custom
Will Dahntay Jones Become The First Player To Out-fine His Salary?
For the second straight year, the Cleveland Cavaliers signed Dahntay Jones on the final day of the regular season.
Last year, Jones was suspended for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals after he smacked Bismack Biyombo in the groin area in Game 3. He was fined 1/110th of his salary, but since he was only earning the veteran minimum of $8,800, the fine was $80.17.
His salary hasn’t changed much, but the fines went up astronomically. Against the Raptors in the Conference Semis, three minutes were enough for Jones to pick up back-to-back technical fouls for talking trash to Norman Powell, leading to an ejection. According to Brian Windhorst, Dahntay Jones got fined $6,000, which doesn’t seem much in terms of NBA fines and salaries, but Jones only made $9,127 from the Cavaliers after they signed him for the veteran’s minimum on the final day of the regular season.
What hasn’t changed, is LeBron James paying for these fines. LeBron James jokingly told ESPN, that he is getting tired of paying Jones’ fines:
“I said I was going to pay the fine [last year’s fine] before I even knew what it was. It didn’t matter. And I told him tonight, I said, ‘Listen, Dahntay, now enough is enough. Stop getting kicked out against Toronto all the time. I’m going to stop paying your damn fines.’ But yeah, he don’t have to worry about it. He’s good.”
Now, in Game 4 of the 2017 NBA Finals, Dahntay Jones has done it again. After JR Smith hit his deep three, Dahntay Jones got a technical while sitting on the bench. After receiving his third technical of the playoffs, he’s now been fined at least $8000 this postseason.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myzO4r0Mwlw
$8000 in fines, and a salary of slightly over $9000, should we start a gofundme page for Dahntay? No, because players are only paid salary during the regular season and he was signed right before the last game of the season. So his pay is $9,000 for basically one game – the final game of the regular season.
Playoff teams get bonuses based on how far they go. Last year’s Finals paid out $2.6 million for the Cavs. This money is distributed among the players, coaches, and other staff at the discretion of the team. He’ll get paid for these games. We don’t know how much, but let’s just assume that he won’t have a problem paying these fines.
