The NBA’s usage of Twitter continues to make headlines. This week, Slam Magazine writer and NBA.com contributer Vince Thomas writes about Twitter’s explosion among NBA players, Timberwolves.com beat writer Jonah Ballow interviews Mavericks owner Mark Cuban about NBA players tweeting before games and Arizona Republic writer Paul Coro examines the Phoenix Suns’ digital brand marketing plan.

ESPN announced yesterday morning that the NBA fined Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban $25,000 for his Twitter comments on the officiating during a Mavericks game last week. This prompted Cuban to pose an interesting question on his “Blog Maverick” blog entitled Are Tweets Copyrighted?

Obviously Mark Cuban had to have known that he was risking a fine from the league office when he complained about the officiating publicly no matter which venue he used to communicate his displeasure. So, do you think the NBA is right for fining Cuban for his comments? What if his Twitter page was private and someone copied his tweet to the media? Does that change anything? Do you think this fine changes the way owners and athletes feel about using Twitter to communicate?

The always entertaining Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, broke new ground on Friday night when he used his Twitter account to complain about the officiating during the Mavericks’ loss to the Denver Nuggets.

Cuban, an avid Twitterer, asked “how do they not call a tech on JR Smith for coming off the bench to taunt our player on the ground?” in reference to a key play late in the game in which a Dallas player fell into the Denver bench after taking a shot.

Cuban has criticized NBA referees in the past but this may be the first time that a professional coach or owner has used Twitter to do so.

Update- March 30 - ESPN is reporting that the NBA has fined Cuban $25,000 for his comments on Twitter. Cuban, naturally, tweeted about it.