The Miami Heat were 5 years old and Kevin Loughery was in his third season at the helm when he used the spill-a-drink tactic for a free timeout, the former coach says.

But the trick that Brooklyn Nets coach Jason Kidd was fined $50,000 for last week predates even the early Heat years, according to Loughery.

Kevin Loughery says he used the spill-a-drink gimmick several times in his 20 years as a head coach in the NBA and long-defunct ABA. USA TODAY Sports

Loughery, speaking in a telephone interview with the New York Daily News on Sunday, didn't call it the oldest trick in the book. But he said he used the gimmick several times in his 20 years as an NBA and ABA head coach, the last one coming in the 1994 playoffs.

"There are different ways you can do it," Loughery told the newspaper from his home in Virginia. "You can have the players spill it. You can have one of the ball boys do it.

"They can't fine the ball boys, I don't think."

Loughery, 73, said he would use the unsuspecting ball boy as his proxy.

"'Just pour some water on the floor,'" Loughery said he would tell them. "He really had no idea what I was talking about until he sees the results."

For his part, Kidd said he was just "trying to win" when he intentionally spilled his drink on the court. Kidd was fined $50,000 on Thursday with the NBA saying he intentionally spilled his drink as a stall tactic.

Loughery said he was surprised by the amount of Kidd's fine even considering the salaries of head coaches these days.

"I know guys are making way more money now, but that's an outrageous fine for that," Loughery said, according to the Daily News. "I guess the league doesn't want any more of it. ... I can't believe they would fine a guy $50,000 for that.