Pacers’ Rick Carlisle rants about $100,000 tanking fine with Aaron Nesmith injury revelations

The Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle has fired back at the NBA following a $100,000 fine levied against the organization for violating the league’s player participation policy. The penalty stems from a February 3 matchup against the Utah Jazz, where the Pacers rested four-time All-Star Pascal Siakam alongside several other starters on the second night of a back-to-back, including Aaron Nesmith, around whom the controversy arose.

“I put out a statement about it. I didn’t agree with it. There was a league lawyer that was doing the interview and unilaterally decided that Aaron Nesmith who had been injured the night before, he couldn’t hold the ball, should have played in the game, which just seems ridiculous and during the interview process, I was not on it but I heard details,” Carlisle explained per a post on X by Kevin Bowen.

Carlisle then went into detail about how the NBA refused to consult the team’s doctors or the player himself.

“We asked them if they wanted to talk to the doctors, our doctors about it, because it was something that was documented by our doctors and trainers. They said no, they didn’t need to, they talked to their doctors who did not examine Aaron Nesmith. And we asked them if they wanted to talk to the kid. They said no, they didn’t need to,” he explained.

The reality of Nesmith’s physical condition paints a clear picture. The 26-year-old is officially expected to miss at least another week of action due to a right ankle sprain sustained in a recent loss to the Washington Wizards.

While Nesmith previously missed 19 consecutive games with a left knee sprain, he has been highly productive when healthy, averaging 13.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.1 assists across 33 appearances while logging 30 minutes a night. The lack of malfeasance by the Pacers is further supported by the fact that their biggest star in Tyrese Haliburton’s absence, Pascal Siakam, has also logged heavy minutes despite Indiana firmly out of playoff reckoning at 15-43.

Siakam has started 52 times despite the fact that the Pacers are unlikely to move from their 15th position on the Eastern Conference table.

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