Stern to fine Spurs for sitting players

[barefacedmonk]

David Stern stumbles again in his failed culture war against the Spurs

[CelticG1]

I really hope the punishment is the Spurs getting the raw end of calls in game. Even if its unintentional I just want the NBA to look bad and shady because that's what it is.

Seriously aren't you just DYING for a controversial spurs call?

[Lucky17]

I thought Stern was peeved because he had laid down a couple grand on the Spurs to cover the spread.

Lighten up, Davey, you won the bet. Sheesh.

[celtsfan84]

I thought Stern was peeved because he had laid down a couple grand on the Spurs to cover the spread.

Lighten up, Davey, you won the bet. Sheesh.

Imagine that scandal!  Now he'll fine the Spurs by that same amount and cover his losses in full.

[alajet]

It's funny when there is a certain term "tanking" is present in NBA  for draft positions.

[Swoopz]

It's like Stern wants to make sure that there is no one who doesn't dislike him before he leaves.

[Eja117]

I offer this compromise......Pop refunds half the ticket price to all the fans in the arena and 5% of the advertising revenue to advertisers.  If he does that I have no problem with what he did. 

But taking a dump on the fans and sponsors without any regard for them isn't ok.

I see the point about the league fining Doc for sitting centers and whatnot, but the other natural extension is that Pop could sit them all during the finals and it's ok. Being a coach doesn't mean the team belongs to you or that it is subject to all your whims.

My only question here is

what is the players ask him for a rest.....

is that imposible?

and i know thats pretty devils advocate

If you think he's tired or in pain play him less minutes. Has said player been going to the trainer etc? Have they been eating right, working out, etc? Case by case basis.  But personally I wouldn't want people to know I was healthy and asked the coach to not play me in a game.

[Eja117]

Unless Stern is going to micromanage who many minutes Duncan gets its not going to matter. Instead he'll have those players on the bench instead of at their homes.

As for hurting the fans, I really don't care. You aren't given any guarentee when you buy a ticket to see your favorite player. Whether its DNP - Old, injury, or suspension.

The idea that the fans were somehow "cheated" is silly to me, especially when the Spurs still came out and played hard and Pop coached to win with the players he put on the court.

And who cares if the exotic dancers are 300lbs and missing fingers? They still danced, right? You weren't cheated. You weren't given any guarantee of anything (except dancing).

[Eja117]

No rule was violated.  Until there is a rule that states what Pop did was wrong, no one should be sanctioned.

Truth

[Eja117]

David Stern stumbles again in his failed culture war against the Spurs

TP

[Eja117]

So egregious?

I give it the twitter test.  When I went on twitter yesterday, when it was announced that Pop had sent all those guys home (and before Stern had sent everything), it was blowing up with comments about it.  It had become a major story.  To me, that means that it a significant enough stray from the norm that it is worth addressing. 

If Doc sits KG for a game, there will be a note of it, but it won't be the topic of conversation of every basketball writer in the league, no matter what team they are covering.  But, when you send your 4 best players home before a nationally televised game against the best team in the league, that is noteworthy, and therefore crossing the line IMO.

I don't think it was crossing the line at all.  Sure the TNT executives probably threw a hissy fit but I'm sure Pops could care less and its not his job to appease them anyways.  He's doing what he thinks is right for his team and given the circumstances, I'm totally cool on that.

I think Stern was reactionary and threw a hissy fit without fully thiinking things through here.

I agree that Pops just did his job.  But I also think Stern did his job.

A big deal was made about this in the media, and it looked bad on the NBA.  So he stepped in, and basically said that the NBA does not support this type of decision.

Done and done.

I agree with both this and Dons when he said "I think Stern was reactionary and threw a hissy fit without fully thiinking things through here."

Stern made specific statements about substantial punishments coming down the line.

He should have just had Pops visit his office and been like "When you do that we lose millions. If you did something similar we wouldn't lose millions. If you lose us millions again there will be serious repercussions. Just apologize to our sponsors and we can get this set."  and then send out an email to teams about not doing stuff like this and you're done. Peacemaker. Instead Stern decided to play king again against one of the most respected guys in the league. Because Stern doesn't respect anyone except himself. And money

[ronaldo943]

Spurs fined $250,000 sources nba.com

[Eja117]

Spurs fined $250,000 sources nba.com

On nba tv it says for not informing the Heat or the league in a timely manner. Not sure why on Earth you would ever inform your opponent of your rotation strategy if you could possibly avoid it

[ronaldo943]

Spurs fined $250,000 sources nba.com

On nba tv it says for not informing the Heat or the league in a timely manner. Not sure why on Earth you would ever inform your opponent of your rotation strategy if you could possibly avoid it

Same thing i said

[JoT]

Spurs fined $250,000 sources nba.com

On nba tv it says for not informing the Heat or the league in a timely manner. Not sure why on Earth you would ever inform your opponent of your rotation strategy if you could possibly avoid it

If that's his reason then it makes no sense.