Gregg Popovich Still Doesn’t Know the Rules for Resting Players


RestGate sparked all kinds of furor last month, and it cost the San Antonio Spurs a cool $250K. Still, head coach Gregg Popovich has no clue what the protocol is when it comes to giving healthy but exhausted players a rest. Per the Express-News: “The move to send Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green home before the Nov. 29 game earned the Spurs an unprecedented $250,000 fine from commissioner David Stern. Popovich said that’s the last word he’s heard from the league office on the issue. ‘I don’t know what the guidelines are,’ Popovich said. ‘I don’t know how you plan. I’m just going to do what I’ve been doing for 16, 17 years. I’m mostly concerned with the health and safety of my players, especially the ones who are a little bit older. When they need rest, I’m going to give it to them.’ With the Spurs one game into another four-games-in-five-nights set, ending with a TNT game Thursday in New York, the issue could rise to the forefront again. ‘If you’re playing four games in five nights and you need to rest somebody, I think that’s a call that I’ll make if I need to do that,’ Popovich said. ‘I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again, I’m sure.'”