Stern Fines Miami Heat Owner $500,000 for Talking Lockout

(NewsCore) - MIAMI -- NBA commissioner David Stern has fined Miami Heat owner Micky Arison $500,000 for tweeting about the league's labor dispute, Yahoo! Sports reported Monday, citing league sources.

Arison, who is the CEO of cruise line giant Carnival, violated the league-imposed gag order on Friday, just hours after labor talks broke down yet again.

The tweets, which since have been removed from Arison's account, were in reaction to an angry fan who chastised the billionaire owner for his role in the NBA stalemate.

"How's it feel to be apart of ruining the best game in the world?" the fan asked Arison. "NBA owners/players don't give a damn about fans.. and guess what? Fans provide all the money you're fighting over.. you greedy *ss pigs."

Arison replied, "You are barking at the wrong owner," which appeared to support the players union's contention that a divide existed amongst the league's 32 owners -- particularly big market versus small market teams -- in regard to labor strategy.

Arison, who according to Forbes has an estimated net worth of $4.2 billion, is believed to be in line with big market owners, who reportedly do not agree with the majority of owners who are holding firm on their demands for an equal split of the league's basketball-related income (BRI).

Stern last Friday announced the cancellation of all regular season games through Nov. 30 after players and owners remained divided on how to split the league's revenue, dragging the lockout into a fifth month.

Stern confirmed that owners continued to demand a 50-50 split of BRI, while the players refused to go "a penny below" 52 percent. In the previous deal, the players received 57 percent of BRI.

Stern last month fined Charlotte Bobcats majority owner and former NBA superstar Michael Jordan $100,000 for commenting on the lockout in an interview with Australian newspaper The Herald Sun.