by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni
The NBA acted swiftly following their message of displeasure last night.
The San Antonio Spurs organization has been fined $250,000 for sitting out Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Danny Green for a game against the Miami Heat (which they nearly won using their JV squad.)
Here’s the full statement from the NBA:
The NBA announced today that the San Antonio Spurs organization has been fined $250,000 for its decision to send four players home prior to the Spurs’ Nov. 29 game in Miami. The Spurs’ actions were in violation of a league policy, reviewed with the NBA Board of Governors in April 2010, against resting players in a manner contrary to the best interests of the NBA.
NBA Commissioner David Stern stated: “The result here is 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. 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.”
Going forward, it will be interesting to see what tactics teams like the Spurs begin to adopt, in order to rest their veteran players without getting in trouble with the NBA.
Gregg Popovich is likely smirking somewhere, though Spurs team owner Peter Holt probably isn’t now that he’s $250k poorer.
