Competition brings out the best in some and the worst in others, which is precisely why sports players pay so many fines. If they’re lucky, their fines don’t cost too much in terms of finances and their reputation. If they’re not, however, they can pay hefty fines and risk their hard-earned reputations off the court/field/track. Read on to find out which 10 sports fines are the biggest in the history of the game.
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Kobe Bryant
Back in 2011, Kobe Bryant, player for the Los Angeles Lakers, made an anti-gay slur so offensive he was fined $100,000. During a game against the Spurs, Bryant received a technical foul, sat on the bench with an attitude and muttered an anti-gay slur so offensive that the game’s commentators actually made the comment that the cameras should get off of Bryant right now in case kids at home were watching. Bryant apologized, calling the remark stupid and out of nothing more than frustration.
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James Harrison
As someone who has worked closely with the NFL and the Heads up Football program, I can attest to the fact that the league is working hard to prevent players from making hits to the head both professionally and in school-aged players. This is precisely why the league fined Pittsburgh Steeler James Harrison $95,000 in the 2010 season for three illegal hits to the head. The first fine of $50,000 was for hitting a Cleveland Browns player in the head. The second was a repeat offense against the Titans for $25,000 and the third was another $20,000 fine against the Saints’ QB, Drew Brees.
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Mike Tyson
Perhaps this is the worst act of aggression in sports history, and everyone remembers it. Back in 1997 during the Sound of the Fury fight, Mike Tyson actually bit off a piece of his opponent’s ear. After losing his boxing license for the incident, Tyson was also sentenced to community service and a $3 million fine.
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Bill Belichick
As head coach of the New England Patriots, Belichick should have been riding on cloud 9 during the 2007 NFL season thanks to a perfect regular season record. However, during game 1 of the playoffs, Belichick was caught recording the defensive signals of the Jets’ during the game, which is a direct violation of league rules. He was personally fined a half million dollars, the team was fined $250,000 and the Pats lost their first-round draft pick the following year.
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Mark Cuban
In 2010, Mark Cuban was fined $100,000 for violating the NBA’s anti-tampering laws in regards to Kobe Bryant. The Laker was not yet a free agent when the NBA owner made his comments, which directly violates several rules. Of course he wanted to acquire the player for his own team when he became a free agent, but the NBA doesn’t like owners mentioning it until it’s a sure thing.
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McLaren F1
In what is officially the largest fine ever issued in the history of sports, the McLaren-Mercedes Team was ordered to pay a $100 million fine in 2007. The team was accused of possessing confidential information against the rival Ferrari team, which violates codes in the International Sporting Code of conduct for the racing team. The team was also forced to give up all its titles for the year.
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Charles Swing
In 2009, NASCAR’s Charles Swing was issued the sport’s biggest fine in history. The crew chief was not only fined $200,000 for his actions, he was also suspended for a time. The crew chief placed oversized engines in his team’s car during the 35th Sprint Showdown. The fine might not seem like much for other teams, but for Carl Long’s very small team, this kind of fine was a big deal.
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Dennis Rodman
He’s known for being a bad boy on and off the court, which is not surprising given his seemingly poor life choices (anyone want to talk about his new BFF?). However, the former NBA star was fined $50,000 in 1997 after making an exceptionally offensive comment in regards to the Mormon religion. The NBA did not take kindly to his words and fined the player what was then the biggest fine in NBA history after his offensive comments against the Utah-based religion.
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Kyle Busch
The NASCAR driver was fined $25,000 in 2010 for a complete lapse in judgment. The driver was going too fast at the Texas Motor Speedway, which resulted in a one lap penalty. Apparently, the driver didn’t like his penalty because he took it upon himself to point a very offensive finger at a NASCAR official, who slapped the driver with the hefty fine, penalized him another two laps and placed him on probation for the remainder of the year.
(Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway)
Mark Cuban
Yes, he’s on here again, but that’s just how it goes when you can’t keep your mouth shut during games. The Dallas Mavericks owner was fined $250,000 in Game 5 of the 2006 NBA Finals when he really put his foot in his mouth. The first of his offenses during this particular game included running out onto the court to yell at officials, the second included using inappropriate language during a postgame press conference and screaming at the commissioner the same night. This fine brought his grand total of NBA fines to more than $1.65 million since he first purchased the team in 2000 until the date of this particular game in 2006.
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