Basketball Australia has denied its disciplinary process lacks transparency after the governing body agreed to a request not to publish John Rillie's punishment for verbally abusing a staff member at a rival NBL club.
Within earshot of league staff, Perth Wildcats coach Rillie unleashed on an employee of South East Melbourne Phoenix prior to the teams' round-one clash in Melbourne.
In the post-match press conference after his side's loss, the 1998 NBL champion broke league rules on swearing when he said the Wildcats were a "f***ing good" team when they harnessed their emotions properly.
Rillie was fined $500 for each incident, with details of the sanctions leaked through newspapers more than a week after the game.
Basketball Australia (BA) denies leaking the information.
AAP understands news of the sanctions was not released formally, as is usually the case for incidents across Australia's professional sporting codes, following a request from Rillie and the Wildcats to BA.
BA agreed to keep the sanctions private, with the Wildcats disappointed when they became public.
Basketball Australia told AAP there was nothing in their disciplinary framework that required news of a punishment to be made public.
"Under the Basketball Australia integrity framework, the outcome of any hearing may be made by an official release by Basketball Australia at its sole discretion," a statement from BA read.
BA supervises all levels of the game and told AAP that, given the number of teams under their jurisdiction, media releases were issued when they determined there was a public interest.
The Wildcats attracted more home fans on average last season than any other basketball team in Australia.
BA provided information to media who requested it after the information was leaked.
Basketball Australia has yet to release a formal statement on the incident on its website or social media channels.
Rillie declined to comment on the incidents when quizzed by West Australian media last week.
The NBL's tribunal guidelines cover incidents from 20 minutes before tip-off until shortly after the end of the fourth quarter.
Any misconduct that takes place as teams are leaving the court at the end of the game is handled by the NBL, but BA covers anything in the media conference.
Rillie's incidents both fell to Basketball Australia to handle through their code of conduct for elite-level participants.
The NBL's policy is to tell players of their sanction before making their punishment public after it is accepted or challenged, similar to the system adopted by the NRL late in the most recent season.
When contacted by AAP, the Phoenix's media representative was unaware Rillie had been sanctioned for either offence.
The Phoenix declined to elaborate on the nature of the conflict between Rillie and their staff member, citing privacy concerns.
