Apparently you can get fined for resting players... AT ALL!!!!
The Spurs were near the end of a 6 game road trip dating back to last Wednesday and were about to play their 4th game in five days last night in Miami. Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich decided to not wear out his stars on an early season road trip and sent Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, and Danny Green ( I don't know) back to San Antonio so they can rest for a Saturday home game against the Grizzlies. The Heat would win a close game105-100 leaving me to wonder how good the Heat are so early in the season.
David Stern didn't like the fact that Popovich and the Spurs did this instead of playing their stars and losing to the Miami Heat (like a good boy). So Stern has fined them $250,000 for not playing their stars Thursday night in Miami. In a statement made by Stern he said: "The result here is dictated by the totality of the facts in this case.
The Spurs decided to make four of their top players unavailable for an
early-season game that was the team's only regular-season visit to
Miami. The team also did this without informing the Heat, the media, or
the league office in a timely way. Under these circumstances, I have
concluded that the Spurs did a disservice to the league and our fans."
Or in other words: "IT'S NOT YOUR BREAK YET SO F**K YOU!!!"
While I understand that the NBA is about advertising the players rather than the team, it's still a team sport and players need to rest. If Popovich thinks that resting his guys an extra day to win help win a conference game rather than a non-conference game against the Heat, then he should be able to do that. These are older players for the most part and making sure they are not cumulatively worn out for the postseason is a big concern for a team like the Spurs. Plus, I heard that Popovich has done this before without any punishment so it seems even more peculiar that there is a fine.
David Stern is just mad that the Spurs rested stars during a nationally televised game. If this was just local markets, he wouldn't do a thing. But this was a nationally televised game featuring stars from both Miami and San Antonio and Stern is mad that San Antonio decided to not go with the program.
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