Commissioner David Stern said on Monday that Washington Coach Eddie Jordan had been fined $25,000 for suggesting that the referees favored Cleveland's LeBron James and that James had traveled at the end of Game 3 in the teams' first-round series.

Stern's disclosure came while speaking about owners and coaches who criticize the officiating and the N.B.A. in general.

Jordan had said, "I'm not going to get fined for saying what's obvious"