The NBA fined the New York Knicks $50,000 on Monday for violating the league's rules regarding equal access for media by not giving the New York Daily News access to their post-draft news conference on Friday.
The rest of the New York media was invited to the news conference to introduce draft picks RJ Barrett and Ignas Brazdeikis.
"The Knicks acknowledge that we did not comply with the NBA's media policy and made an error in interpreting Friday's announcement as an invite-only event," the team said in a statement. "As we do throughout the year, we have and will continue to provide access to credentialed media as per the league's policy."
The Professional Basketball Writers condemned Friday's incident in a statement Saturday, saying it was "unprofessional and unacceptable."
The PBWA said, "James Dolan, the owner of the Knicks franchise, previously has said that barring Daily News employees from media availabilities sends the Daily News 'a message.' In reality, the only message he is sending is that he is a bully who retaliates against legitimate news outlets that publish content he dislikes."
It was not the first time the Daily News has been barred from a news conference. In December, after the newspaper ran the headline "Do It" on a story about Dolan potentially selling the team, Daily News columnist Stefan Bondy was not allowed to attend a news conference with Knicks president Steve Mills.
When asked by the paper why Bondy was banned, a representative for the team said, "It was invitation only. There is nothing more to add."