The Alex Rodriguez era with the Minnesota Timberwolves isn't off to a great start. The team is now facing a major hiccup which comes in the form of a whopping $250,000 fine issued by the NBA for what the league has deemed as illegal offseason workouts that were held outside of the team's market.

According to a statement made by the NBA, this hefty fine stems from the Timberwolves arranging offseason workout sessions in Miami early in September:

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski provided further details on the workout session in question and according to the NBA guru, the Timberwolves' activities in Miami also included a team dinner in Rodriguez's own house:

Rodriguez purchased the Timberwolves franchise during the offseason along with his business partner and former Walmart CEO Marc Lore. After a rather controversial string of events that led to the build-up of the actual sale of the franchise from former owner Glen Taylor, it was A-Rod's group that was eventually able to strike a deal to purchase the team.

This type of violation is not exactly common in the NBA, but it is clear that the league is making an example of the Timberwolves here. This should serve as a strong warning for other teams to make sure that they are able to adhere to the NBA's policy whenever they arrange team workout sessions outside of their market.