A fine would be incredibly fukked up in my opinion. A coach has the right to coach his team whatever way he wants to. Stern is going to look like a huge jackass if he ends up fining Pop and the Spurs win.
A coach's job is to make decisions that he thinks is best for his team... not for the other team's fans.
So for all you guys, and especially heyp, who are so offended by this. Were you equally offended when the Texans played all their scrubs against the Titans the last game of the season last year? I bought tickets to the game (at great expense) as a Christmas present to my girlfriend. The game sucked with all the scrubs and the Texans losing. While I was definitely pissed, I had to admit that it was Kubiaks choice to do what he thought was best for the team. No different than Pops. Give me a rational bright line standard when you can penalize a coach/team for doing what they think is in the best interests of their team or STFU. Sign me still pissed about the Titans tickets.
Where does it say a "fine?" The League can absolutely drop you from a future nationally televised game. They juggle those all the time. And in this case, the sanction could be to assign a future Spurs game to a team who cares to dress all their healthy starters. If that is the "sanctions" then the league has every right and authority to do so. And if you know me, you should know I hate the league, the nba schedule and Stern. I have been a Union backer for a very long time.
If the coach isn't doing it in the best interests of the team, obviously. If they're just doing it to prove a point, for example, you can say he's not performing his proper function as a coach. But Pops has a good alibi, of course.
I am fine with the Spurs getting dropped from national tv, but I don't think the Spurs care, so it might not be much of a punishment.
Miami is just sad. They are the national champions and have so many empty seats. Worst sports town in U.S.A
Agree. But usually "sanctions" mean fines. And unless a rule was broken, it isn't warranted. Stern may see it as a sign of "disrespect" to the fans (or sponsors, who he probably is more concerned with). But its not his job to dictate who should play and who shouldn't play.
Kubiak was both resting his players and protecting them from injury. Popovich is not doing that this game. Do you really believe that? This is not the same at all.
4th in 5 nights last game of a 6 game roadie - Heat on 4Sat days rest. Automati L tbh - why risk injury?
I am fine with that and I don't think the Spurs care. Why should they care? Can we move on from that lame 'punishment' now and talk about the NBA schedule?
This move is understandable. 4 games in 5 nights and a 5th game in 7 nights against a very good Memphis (who not only is in the same conference but also in the same division). O and Memphis is leading the conference, Spurs in second place. Obviously the Memphis game is much much more important in terms of playoff seeding so why not rest the starters. Seems like a ridiculous schedule anyway and i bet the record win percentage on the 4th night is not that great if i had to guess. Now the oddest part is that the heat had a 4 games in 5 nights, then follow that up with 3 games in 12 nights. A "3 games in 12 nights" team against a "4th game in 5 nights" team. So a very well rested heat vs. a very tired spurs. Puts them at a heavy disadvantage from the get go...so why risk injury due to fatigue and why not prep for the more important game.
Spurs starters are old. They are tired after having 4 games in 5 nights. Their probability to win is low. It is more important to rest their best players for their division opponent in a couple of days. Why waste their energy in a game where they don't have a good probability of winning, a game against an out-of-conference and out-of-division opponent? Reason me that. Stern has no grounds to sanction the Spurs. What rule did they violate and why arbitrarily apply it?
Note: I don't care one way or another about the "sanctions." Seems many posters here are only upset because of that...otherwise, many don't back Pops doing this. I just purely don't agree with what Pops is doing....Stern or not. We don't know if it is a fine, yet. And we also don't really know all the rules here. There is an owner-to-owner agreement that is not published. There may very well be allowable fines if the sponsors make a valid complaint and are able to withhold full payment for a game....or something to do with ratings that can be attributed to a coaching decision "not within the spirit of the game" lol! Seriously, we don't really know if owners can fine themselves for screwing over ratings for a game. And why would we care if the league does that anyhow?
I can understand Stern doing damage control but the fans are getting what they paid for. They paid to see a game between the Spurs and the Heat. Players from both teams are on the court right now.
