The fight in David Stern hasn’t gone out, that’s for sure. The out going Commissioner hit the San Antonio Spurs with a 250,000 dollar fine.
Commissioner David Stern said the Spurs ”did a disservice to the league and our fans” when they didn’t bring Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili or Danny Green to Miami for the final game of the six-game trip.
”The result here is dictated by the totality of the facts in this case,” Stern said in a statement. ”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.”
Teams are required to report as soon as they know a player will not travel because of injury.
The league’s statement said the Spurs were in violation of league policy reviewed with the board of governors in April 2010 against resting players in a manner ”contrary to the best interests of the NBA.”
Maybe instead telling the Spurs when to play their players, Stern could have spent more time looking into the thuggery that went on in the Celtic game against the Nets. Getting beat fair and square is one thing but starting a fight and then have the party you started the fight against get fined looks and is weak, but Stern wanted to send a message to the Spurs about resting their players. There are two sides to this issue about what Popovich did against the Heat. One thought and it is the feelinig here is that Stern was more worried about saving face with his sponsors because it was a nationally televised game. If this was not a televised game either or TNT or NBATV this would not have gotten this kind of attention. Popovich crime if you will, wasn’t that he rested his players, his crime was he was honest about why he rested his players. Most coaches would have come up with phantom injuires as to why their star players were not playing game 16 of an 82 NBA season. We always want our coaches, players, Owners to be honest with us. Well Stern, Popovich was honest with you and now you punish him and his team for it.
The other school of thought is that the Spurs have a obligation to inform the League for any changes that would or could affect the quality of play in a prudent manner. The fans pay good money to see star players of everyteam in the league, just like going to a concert to see your favorite band or performer and only to find out the band cancelled or the performer will not perform that night. Fans feel cheated when that happens. This is David Stern’s possible line of thought in this matter. I can see both sides of this situation, but I side more with the Spurs when you look at their set of circumstances. There are others in the NBA that have voices their opinions on this as well. Consider the following comments:
”Popovich has done this before and he knows what’s best for his team,” former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal said on TNT. ”It’s his job to manage his players and do whatever he’d like. He’s thinking about the big picture.”
Another former player turned TNT analyst, Steve Kerr – who played for Popovich – also defended the franchise’s actions.
”If the NBA punishes the Spurs for sitting players, it opens up a huge can of worms,” he wrote on Twitter. ”This is a serious legal challenge for the league.”
Celtics coach Doc Rivers didn’t think the penalty would keep teams from resting players.
”I don’t like it,” he said. ”It’s a tough one. You’ve got to coach your team to win in the long run and you have to do whatever you need to do. If that’s sitting players, you sit players.”
Let’s be clear teams do this regularly, The Heat rested their stars in what was called a ”maintenance program”
But again, Stern was redfaced because it happened on TV and left him exposed to his sponsors so he felt he had to do something. The fact that the Spurs nearly won the game and played hard should have given Stern even more to think about. Had they won, Stern would have launched an investigation maybe even accused the Heat of throwing the game …just saying.
smallthoughtsinasportsworld 
They almost beat the champions on the road. Stupid fine in my opinion!
Stern is a bumbling self-conceited oaf who lacks credibility . The only reason he’s held power for 25 years is because the NBA was a profitable concern until those moronic owners and general managers became avaricious bas#ards .
The NBA has a $58.044 million soft salary cap but look at the number of teams who are now over that soft cap ?
Woah! I’m really loving the template/theme of this site. It’s simple, yet effective.
A lot of times it’s challenging to get that “perfect balance” between usability and visual appearance. I must say you’ve done a
excellent job with this. Also, the blog loads super quick for me on Chrome.
Outstanding Blog!