$250K fine for San Antonio for resting their players!

I can't believe this! Probably the best coach in the NBA decides to rest his players on an ugly road trip so they can come back fresh against a division rival-- and Stern fines them $250, 000! This is crazy! Pop made the right choice! He almost beat Miami in the game the League is fining him for resting his players. And, those players came back rested and beat Memphis (a division rival) in their next game. Pop made the right decision for his team, and, the League is penalizing the Spurs.

Pop didn't throw the game. Pop allowed his bench players an opportunity to develop against the league's best-- which makes his team much stronger. Miami is a juggernaut team that can be beaten by a deep team capable of standing up to them with their first and second units. Pop put his team in a position where his second unit had to stand up against a major opponent's first unit-- and it worked for the Spurs. This was brilliant coaching by one of the League's small market teams.

Unfortunately (or, fortunately for entities that make big bucks off of NBA basketball), Stern decided to fine San Antonio $250K! This embodies everything that is wrong with the NBA. Not only is Stern and the NBA trying to dictate the most lucrative outcomes for games, they are trying to dictate the entire season to maximize profits. This is a serious blow to fans that think the NBA has anything coming close to a fair playing field.

What's next? Will the league fine a team for resting their starters in the 4th quarter of a 40 point blowout? The key thing (IMO) is that Pop did what was best for his team's chances of winning a championship. Stern, and the League, made it clear that this is a money making industry, not a league based on traditional values of competition. That's Stern's legacy. It's ugly. It's what I would call UnAmerican. It's against all the values I hold dear. IMO, Stern, and the League, need to change directions.

Saint Louis wrote:

I can't believe this! Probably the best coach in the NBA decides to rest his players on an ugly road trip so they can come back fresh against a division rival-- and Stern fines them $250, 000! This is crazy! Pop made the right choice! He almost beat Miami in the game the League is fining him for resting his players. And, those players came back rested and beat Memphis (a division rival) in their next game. Pop made the right decision for his team, and, the League is penalizing the Spurs.

Pop didn't throw the game. Pop allowed his bench players an opportunity to develop against the league's best-- which makes his team much stronger. Miami is a juggernaut team that can be beaten by a deep team capable of standing up to them with their first and second units. Pop put his team in a position where his second unit had to stand up against a major opponent's first unit-- and it worked for the Spurs. This was brilliant coaching by one of the League's small market teams.



Unfortunately (or, fortunately for entities that make big bucks off of NBA basketball), Stern decided to fine San Antonio $250K! This embodies everything that is wrong with the NBA. Not only is Stern and the NBA trying to dictate the most lucrative outcomes for games, they are trying to dictate the entire season to maximize profits. This is a serious blow to fans that think the NBA has anything coming close to a fair playing field.

What's next? Will the league fine a team for resting their starters in the 4th quarter of a 40 point blowout? The key thing (IMO) is that Pop did what was best for his team's chances of winning a championship. Stern, and the League, made it clear that this is a money making industry, not a league based on traditional values of competition. That's Stern's legacy. It's ugly. It's what I would call UnAmerican. It's against all the values I hold dear. IMO, Stern, and the League, need to change directions.

Pops shouldn't have sent them home. Have them at the game, but don't play them. It's a good stratagy for the Spurs. They are an old team and need to rest the starters throughout the season. I have no problem with it.

Stern is sticking his nose where it doesn't belong, as usual

Yes, that is absolutely unbelievable. Not even so much Stern action as reaction of some "baskeball" fans, who sppusedly pays for.

The whole point of NBA as a attraction is that it is suppjsedly COMPETITION. Which letter from capitalized word is unclear for trhem - that is completely beyond me. Looks like simple American word, doesn't it?


If it lost its component and became just "star watching" it lost all its commercial value immediately. People will just go to stupid Holywood shows and tiny bit less stupid, but still staged wrestling shows.

Next step is just act out "TNT games" like Star Wars or something and montage the whole thing and may be have some extar in the end like in Jackie Chan movies - with misses and triiping of supposeddly unbeatable superstars.