San Antonio Spurs Sued By a Fan for Sitting Out Four Healthy Players

The San Antonio Spurs angered the NBA when they sent home four healthy players prior to a nationally-televised game against the Miami Heat. For that, the League docked them a cool $250K. And now, someone is suing the Spurs for their act, claiming that head coach Gregg Popovich violated the state of Florida’s deceptive and fair trade practices law. ESPN has more: “On Monday, Larry McGuinness filed a class action suit in Miami-Dade County, stating that the team’s head coach, Gregg Popovich, ‘intentionally and surrepticiously’ sent their best players home without the knowledge of the league, the team and the fans attending the Nov. 29 game against the Heat. McGuinness contends that he, as well as other fans, ‘suffered economic damages’ as a result of paying a premium price for a ticket that shouldn’t cost more. Before the game, Popovich sent Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green back to San Antonio, saying that he believed that resting his top players for their fourth game in five days was a smart decision. […] ‘It was like going to Morton’s Steakhouse and paying $63 for porterhouse and they bring out cube steak,’ said McGuinness, who said he bought his ticket on the resale market. ‘That’s exactly what happened here.’ […] Some could argue that the Heat fans got their money’s worth. That’s because the team barely beat the undermanned Spurs, 105-100 that night. McGuinness said that doesn’t mean a game with the Spurs top players couldn’t have been more exciting. McGuinness said he didn’t believe that the Spurs were served with the lawsuit yet. Team spokesman Tom James said he was not in the position to comment on the case.”