New York, NY

The NBA has fined Miami Heat owner Miky Arison Monday for Twitter comments about the locked-out league's ongoing collective bargaining process.

The league sanction arose from Arison's Twitter feed last Friday, when he appeared to have used his account to comment on the ongoing labor situation in the NBA.

After the latest breakdown in labor talks between owners and players, the 62-year-old Miami billionaire and Heat owner posted several Tweets Friday night, including a response to an alleged basketball fan who referred to those involved with the lockout as "greedy".

A fan wrote via Twitter: "How's it feel to be apart of ruining the best game in the world? NBA owners/players don't give a damn about fans&and guess what? Fans provide all the money you're fighting over&you greedy (expletive) pigs.

To which the Heat owner replied: "You are barking at the wrong owner."

It was a clear violation of the mandate prohibiting owners and league executives from discussing the lockout.

Arison deleted it afterwards but not after it was viewed by many Twitter users, including fellow owners, league executives and players and caused a frenzy in cyberspace regarding the issue.

To many observers, it seemed to confirm the long-standing contention that there is a discord existing within the ownership ranks.

Meanwhile, Arison went on to post several tweets Friday night that also likely drew ire.

Another fan asked Arison what he thought about Clippers' owner Donald Sterling, he replied with a simple "lol."

When another twitter follower touched on the competitive balance among "all 32 teams" and indicated that it was an "unrealistic and stupid idea," it got a smiley face reply from the Heat owner, who currently has three All-Stars in his starting lineup.

Arison deleted that tweet, too, and clarified that the smile was for the 32 teams mistake when there are only 30 and not for the competitive balance principle.

According to Yahoo! Sports, the $500,000 docked on Arison is five times the amount other owners have previously been fined for improper public comments regarding the labor dispute.

It also marked the third time that the league has sanctioned an owner for public comments about the ongoing lockout.

Last year, Wizards owner Ted Leonis had to shell out $100,000 for comments about the owners' want for a hard salary cap.

In September, former NBA superstar and Bobcats owner Michael Jordan was also fined $100,000 after he told an Australian media outlet that the NBA's current business model was "broken."

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