The NBA announced today that the Denver Nuggets have been fined $200,000 and head coach George Karl has been suspended for the first three regular season games of the 2005-06 season for violating league rules prohibiting contact between NBA teams and players not yet eligible for the NBA Draft.

The violation occurred on May 16-18, when Coach Karl attended several workouts involving a draft ineligible player at Marquette University.

?George made an innocent mistake but we take full responsibility for these actions,? said team General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe. ?The Denver Nuggets fully respect league rules and regulations and we regret any inadvertent violation that occurred.?