The Phoenix Suns led by 33 points Thursday night, late in their 121-90 blowout of the short-handed San Antonio Spurs, when Suns managing partner Robert Sarver grabbed the mic.
Sarver offered an apology to the paying customers for what they’d just sat through – the Spurs sat out six players and their head coach Gregg Popovich, due to various maladies.
13,552 was the game’s listed attendance, and Suns fans who showed up are eligible for a gift certificate for tickets, merchandise or food. This was San Antonio’s first preseason game since returning from last week’s trip to Germany and Turkey.
Per the AZ Republic:
“Hey, everybody, I want to thank you for coming out tonight,” Sarver said. “This is not the game you paid your hard-earned money to watch. I apologize for it. And I want you to send me your tickets if you came tonight with a return envelope and I’ve got a gift for you on behalf of the Suns for showing up tonight. Thank you.”
“I just felt that the fans paid good money for the game and they didn’t see the players that they anticipated seeing,” Sarver said. “It was just a gesture to let them know that we appreciate their support and want to do something to compensate for that.”
It was not the first time that Sarver had a reaction to the Spurs holding out Duncan and Ginobili. In 2005, he flapped his arms like chicken wings at the Spurs bench when San Antonio chose to hold out their two stars from a regular-season game. He again drew negative social media reaction Thursday night from Spurs fans. […] “It’s not really about them (the Spurs),” Sarver said. “They control what they do. We have to control what we do.”
