NBA lifts ban on Mavs public-address announcer, team fined $25,000
Mark Cuban's Mavericks PA announcer criticized NBA officiating via Twitter. (Noah Graham/Getty Images)
The NBA lifted its suspension on Dallas Mavericks public-address announcer Sean Heath, allowing him to call the team's home finale Saturday against the Phoenix Suns, reports Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com.
Heath was originally suspended for two games after using his Twitter account to criticize the league's officiating.
The team was instead fined $25,000 for the tweets.
"Several disciplinary options were discussed but ultimately we decided to be consistent with past practice on violations of game operations staff," league spokesman Tim Frank said via email.
Heath issued a series of tweets critical of the officiating after the Mavericks' 122-120 overtime loss to the Warriors on April 1, particularly a non-goaltending call on Warriors center Jermaine O'Neal with 16 seconds remaining in OT.
Three of the tweets from Heath's account with 253 followers were directed to the NBA's account, the most inflammatory of which said that games such as the Mavs' loss to the Warriors are why the league has a "reputation that the games are rigged."
The NBA acknowledged O'Neal should have been called for goaltending the following day.
