NBA
Clippers’ PJ Tucker receives largest fine of current NBA season after public trade demands
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All posts by Antonio KozlowUpdated16 Feb 2024
PJ Tucker has been overly outspoken about his wishes to leave the Clippers and the NBA decided to slap him with the largest player fine of the season so far. With a $75,000 punishment, the league hopes the forward will cease to comment on his public trade demands this Thursday.
Here is the official statement: “The NBA announced today that LA Clippers forward P.J. Tucker has been fined $75,000 by the NBA for public comments reported during the week of February 5 expressing a desire to be traded to another team.”
The 38-year-old was acquired by the Los Angeles squad during the blockbuster package that included James Harden on Halloween. So far, he’s competed in 12 matches for the club, but was downgraded to a rotation role and hasn’t played a single minute since November 27.
The NBA has fined PJ Tucker $75k for publicly expressing his desire to be traded to another team.
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) February 15, 2024
“I want to be somewhere where I’m needed, wanted and can do it all,” PJ told reporters right before the trade deadline on February 8. “I don’t know what’s going to happen but I have my fingers crossed and I’m hoping to go somewhere else whether I get bought out and choose where I go or where I can play.”
A week later he had said that he was being professional “while trying to get in a better situation for me, personally.” About his role in LA he said: “That’s something that I think would happen more down the line,. We’ll see what happens these next two weeks, going into Feb. 8. And I’ll just have to figure it out from there.”
Back in December, as Tucker had recently been sent to a diminished rotation role, he told the press he still felt he had a lot to give. “I feel like I still got a lot to contribute to a team to be able to win, whether that’s here or somewhere else. I know myself, my worth. I know what I bring. I know what I’ve brought. I know what I can continue to bring. And with that, I want to be able to go to a good team that I can be able to help that,” he shared.
This past Wednesday, his coach Tyronn Lue said his pupil was “70-years-old” and couldn’t expect to play as he wished. The tactician sent him and guard Bones Hyland back home early from their road trip.
The veteran simply wants his team to understand that he doesn’t want to play 0 minutes in the final stages of his career
Tucker recognized that he understands why there was no role for him in Los Angeles, but that he “obviously [playing zero minutes is] not what I want to do right now the stage of my career.”
Once the deadline came and PJ remained in the Clippers roster, he posted “All this shit is a f—ing joke” on a Instagram story. This started a lot of controversy inside his team’s camp and is precisely why the NBA decided to intervene and punish the athlete.
Several sources around the league reported that he would not request a buyout, while others suggest that the Los Angeles front office believes that the veteran could still contribute to the team in the playoffs. One of his main assets could be defending dominant players such as NBA champion Nikola Jokic.
The 38-year-old is currently on a $11.5 million player option for the upcoming campaign. Last year, he played 75 matches for the Philadelphia 76ers and averaged 25.6 minutes.
