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Spurs Fined $250,000 for Resting 4 Regulars
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By Howard Beck
Nov. 30, 2012
When the San Antonio Spurs held out four regulars Thursday night, Coach Gregg Popovich framed it as an investment in the future: Resting Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green now will presumably pay dividends next spring.
That investment just cost the Spurs a whopping $250,000.
Commissioner David Stern announced the penalty Friday evening, citing an obscure league policy intended to discourage teams from resting players “in a manner contrary to the best interests of the N.B.A.”
Teams occasionally rest players, without much scrutiny, but the Spurs’ decision stood out under the circumstances. They were playing in Miami, in a nationally televised game, against the defending champions. The marquee matchup lost its luster when Popovich announced before the game that he had sent the four players back to San Antonio.
In a statement, Stern said the penalty was “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,” Stern said. “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.”
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