Friday, November 30th, 2012 at 6:45 pm  |  69 responses

NBA Fines San Antonio Spurs $250,000 for Sitting Healthy Players


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.

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  • BangforBuck

    by sitting on the damn bench…

  • BangforBuck

    most jobs in the world where you are paid a salary require you to justify reasons why you cant show up. I suppose you should forward this “memo to nba employees” to the rest of the work force on earth.

  • Toner83

    True, but $250,000 seems harsh when the Spurs aren’t exactly breaking the rules…

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    Did you read Woj’s column? Sterns been doing this stuff to them for years.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    It’s $50,000.00 a point. Fined for losing by 5 against the defending champs while using bench players and increasing attention for the league……..David Stern is a genius. A 67 year old petulant child genius.

  • melvin

    I think David Stern was kinda right though. It’s kinda a disservice to the fans. I would want my team to win, but at the same time I would like to see us winning against their best players.

  • charliewinning

    Most of these so called outraged fans don’t buy tickets to go to games. Many of these comments are coming from college kids who can’t afford to buy themselves nose bleed seats in most NBA arenas. The other day I read a comment from a fan who had never even been to an NBA game.

    When you spend money on a ticket you expect to see what your money is paying for. The dad that saved money to take his kid(s) to a game got shafted. For many families that money doesn’t come easy. Hell, even the fan who spent a couple thousand for season tickets deserves to see what he paid for. It’s easy for those who sit home and watch games for free to criticize this move, but for those of us who actually fund this league with our hard earned money Pop was out of line, not Stern.

  • Junkie

    That’s absolutely ridiculous. I understand that it’s a disappointment for the fans and I have payed and gone to games myself. A coach’s primary job is to coach the team and prioritize its success, Pop should get no blame for making the decision to bench his players especially given their recent schedule.

  • Mr. Wet

    people sitting at home watching the game funds the league too, buddy. If it didn’t. They wouldn’t televise games.

  • Ron

    That’s kinda gay man

  • pposse

    thats indirectly. You paying a comcast bill or a dish bill is not the same as the people who actually pay to go to the arena and watch the game.

  • charliewinning

    Wrong. Advertisers pay networks, who then pay the league to broadcast their games. Like I said, you watching the game for free at home isn’t the same as those of us who spend money on tickets. That cable bill you pay gets paid whether you see an NBA game on ESPN/TNT or not. Hell, if you’re watching a game on ABC you really aren’t paying for anything at all. No matter how you twist it, the Spurs got a fine they deserved.

  • charliewinning

    No it’s not absolutely ridiculous. The organization’s job is to provide the best possible product to it’s paying customers. The NBA is a business. It’s not your little fantasy league. Every paying customer matters. There are consequences for intentionally denying customers what they paid for. That includes the networks who pay the league to televise their games. This is hard for a lot of you to understand, and it’s really a simple issue.

    When you charge people or entities money for a product, you must deliver. The Spurs did not, hence their fine. Losing money will always cause a company to get the offending employee–Pop–in line.

  • http://twitter.com/Jzakoni Sanchez

    hey, cmon thats just wrong lol

  • http://www.facebook.com/james.rich.5 James Rich

    Pop gotta do what he gotta do. Kind of silly that Stern reacted that way. http://tinyurl.com/GoingtotheKnicksGame

  • DMC14

    I was trying to put into words but you have pretty much done it for me. i dont like the spurs but i dont agee with the fine.

  • DMC14

    really thats awesome news. and for some reason im reminded of that fight that happened when stern was in the crowd and the camera pans to him and he looked really pale. wish i could remember who was playing in the game. Was it bulls?

  • DMC14

    agreed.

  • http://www.facebook.com/trafalgar.law.146069 Traffy Law

    nice stupid idea. good thing pop don’t think the way you do.

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