Contraversy between the league and the Spurs.

[Blackie]

The coach should be able to coach his team and do what he thinks is best for them. Leave it alone. What is worse is tanking at the end of the season to get a higher draft pick.

[UTJazzFan_Echo1]

The true travesty about this is that teams tank every year and get rewarded for it, yet when the Spurs rest their starters for one night they get threatened with sanctions by the league. Pathetic.

[StocktonShorts]

The true travesty about this is that teams tank every year and get rewarded for it, yet when the Spurs rest their starters for one night they get threatened with sanctions by the league. Pathetic.

Exactly! The Spurs are being punished for not putting up even the thinnest of smokescreens.

[mark53]

Hey Guys,

I don't post much, but have been around here for years. Board is pretty lively recently. Great to see. It means people care, even if your not happy with rotations and all that stuff. Anyhow, this topic is one that made me wanna say something. And I still am not sure which way I lean on it but.......

When I was 18 back in 1992-93. The Jazz went to Boston and I flew in from Canada to see the game. I remember we lost by a point or two, no more. Reggie Lewis hit the go ahead basket. My point is, I made that trip with my dad to see Malone, Stockton and Company. I have been a Jazzfan since the playoff loss to the Warriors in 1989. But if the Jazz had sent the boys home for some rest....... Well I probably would cheer for the Raptors now.

Some kid, some Spurs fan, definitly paid money to see his idol play that game. I guarentee it.

All the respect for Pops, and maybe theschedule needs to be changed but a collective bargain agreement is what it is. And the revenues..... All of the revenues come from fans in one way or another.

Now let's rock OKC and get everyone real excited.

[red4hf]

This is bull$hit....... Theres nothing in the rules to say that teams cannot rest their players at any given time in the season........

Stern is full of crap......

[mark53]

This is bull$hit....... Theres nothing in the rules to say that teams cannot rest their players at any given time in the season........

Stern is full of crap......

When a fan buys a ticket that reads " San Antonio Spurs vs Miami Heat" do you think that fans says " well I hope Tim Duncan plays. My goodness, he makes 1.5 million dollars a month! I'm sure he could suit it up for another 20 minutes after playing 28 minutes the night before.

This is not about the Spurs rights. Not even in the conversation

[red4hf]

This is bull$hit....... Theres nothing in the rules to say that teams cannot rest their players at any given time in the season........

Stern is full of crap......

When a fan buys a ticket that reads " San Antonio Spurs vs Miami Heat" do you think that fans says " well I hope Tim Duncan plays. My goodness, he makes 1.5 million dollars a month! I'm sure he could suit it up for another 20 minutes after playing 28 minutes the night before.

This is not about the Spurs rights. Not even in the conversation

The ticket says "San Antonio Spurs" not Tim Duncan........ The proper response for a pissed off fan is to stop buying tickets and merchandise........ That has nothing to do with nba fining a team.....

[mark53]

Not here to get an argument going. Just my opinion that if you agree to a 20 million dollar contract, you know the schedule .... Blah blah blah. Its 20 minutes really. And so what if you go 2 for 10. Its not even a topic then. I like Pop. But I thiink he just wants a cock fight cuz he is bored.


I think Stock missed 4 games. I'm sure he is laughing at this. I feel those who agree with rest should cheer for the Spurs. Rest is when you gave it your all until May and did not get to the finals. cuz all we got is we try. Really

[red4hf]

Im not saying i wouldnt be one of those pissed off fans...... All im saying is that there is nothing in the rules to forbid what the SAS did....... So for stern to levy this fine is absurd.......

[DelaneyRudd]

There are rules, though they are vague. It's a big deal because it was a TV game. The TV networks choose games based on the stars playing. Plain and simple, that's where the money comes from. I don't get why people seem to pick and choose when they want to believe in corporatist-capitalism.

[nghedman]

What about the people who paid for their tickets in Memphis, they deserve a good product too. But if those players played in the miami game, they would not have been able to give their best efforts in memphis.

And what about the fans that buy tickets for the last of the year games. Those games are forcasted to be the best but if a player is "tired" he isn't going to play his best they deserve a good product too.

The bottom line fact is fans pay for games knowing the coach and players are doing their best to win the Championship, not necessarily one game of the season. Many times I hear: it's a marathon not a race. Some games mean more than others, it just comes with the season and a coach shouldn't be fined for making a move (not so popular) but is in the best interest of his team to win a championship.

I understand Sterns point on entertainment but he is clearly in the wrong in my opinion. As much as I don't like it either but I still think Stern is way out of line for his reaction. Popavich I believe was fine in doing what he did, but maybe he did do it in the wrong fashion. But my bet is it was done that way because he knew the league was going to react so negitively about it.

[Nate505]

I'm not a fan of the fining or anything, but I do agree it's pretty bush league just to send your guys home. Make them travel and they can sit on the bench. That's what they get paid for. You never saw that crap with Stockton/Malone or most players back in the day.

[DelaneyRudd]

I agree with Nate in the end. Its not a cool thing to do, but it's not worth a lawyers salary to beat a team down.

[falcon107]

Both of them are right with the current schedule and taking into account that the match televised nationwide.

With 82 matches schedule with an old but established team like Spurs, it is better to pass some games. Popovich is right.

If the season is to be kept as 82 matches then it is better to start it two months or at least one month earlier. This resolves all these problems - but hopefully not start other problems?

At the same time if you cannot prevent tanking, than it is not fair to let a team tank for a match. Some teams are doing this for a whole season, and then they are rewarded with good draft position. Is this fair? There is something wrong with this NBA mechanism, but I don't know how it can be fixed.

[Paper Face]

This move wasn't about "being cool". And it ultimately wasn't about scheduling, either. It was about sticking it to Stern and his exclusive TNT Thursday night. And I think it was well deserved.

Details of why can be read here: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--david-stern-stumbles-again-in-his-failed-culture-war-against-the-spurs-194828970.html;_ylt=AoXyyC.dQlZA3dB_49QV4gW8vLYF;_ylu=X3oDMTN1NWNkbWgxBG1pdANGRUFUVVJFRCBNZWdhdHJvbiBOQkEEcGtnAzFlZjUwY2FjLTU1OTktM2ZmYS1iYzdhLWIxZTRlMzYyZjgzNgRwb3MDMQRzZWMDbWVnYXRyb24EdmVyA2EzYTBiMjIzLTNiNTYtMTFlMi1iYjdmLTEzYzg4YjQyMzgzNw--;_ylg=X3oDMTFoNjVvZWVyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANuYmEEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnM-;_ylv=3

The fact that it was the best game likely to be seen on Thursday night all season is just further proof that the league is broken, not the Spurs or Popovich.

[The59Sound]

When I was 18 back in 1992-93. The Jazz went to Boston and I flew in from Canada to see the game. I remember we lost by a point or two, no more. Reggie Lewis hit the go ahead basket. My point is, I made that trip with my dad to see Malone, Stockton and Company. I have been a Jazzfan since the playoff loss to the Warriors in 1989. But if the Jazz had sent the boys home for some rest....... Well I probably would cheer for the Raptors now.

Some kid, some Spurs fan, definitly paid money to see his idol play that game. I guarentee it.

Great post. Thanks for sharing the experience.

[russnumber3]

This move wasn't about "being cool". And it ultimately wasn't about scheduling, either. It was about sticking it to Stern and his exclusive TNT Thursday night. And I think it was well deserved.

Details of why can be read here: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--david-stern-stumbles-again-in-his-failed-culture-war-against-the-spurs-194828970.html;_ylt=AoXyyC.dQlZA3dB_49QV4gW8vLYF;_ylu=X3oDMTN1NWNkbWgxBG1pdANGRUFUVVJFRCBNZWdhdHJvbiBOQkEEcGtnAzFlZjUwY2FjLTU1OTktM2ZmYS1iYzdhLWIxZTRlMzYyZjgzNgRwb3MDMQRzZWMDbWVnYXRyb24EdmVyA2EzYTBiMjIzLTNiNTYtMTFlMi1iYjdmLTEzYzg4YjQyMzgzNw--;_ylg=X3oDMTFoNjVvZWVyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANuYmEEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnM-;_ylv=3

The fact that it was the best game likely to be seen on Thursday night all season is just further proof that the league is broken, not the Spurs or Popovich.

The author in this link sounds like a serious Spurs fan: "Few people watch the Spurs on national television – unless they're playing the Heat or the Los Angeles Lakers – and that's because the Spurs never deliver the dysfunction and self-destructive bents that fuel the sport's storylines." Really?? Funny I thought people didn't watch the Spurs because they are boring. Lots of other "poor picked on Spurs stories" in the article too. (Stu Jackson causing Bruce Bowen's defense to suffer in Lakers vs. Spurs playoff series?) Keep the conspiracy theories out of it. Any team would have received the same fines. Imagine Lebron and D-wade being sent home from a trip to San Antonio. The same fines would have resulted.
I have to laugh when I see someone commenting about how rough the Spurs have had it from the NBA when they are quite possibly the biggest beneficiary ever of the sucking to get a top draft pick system. Seriously Spurs people, the league is not out to get you.

[MeestR]

pops will do whatever it takes to win championships. whether it means tank a season, tank a game, or getting in the head of opponents. spurs fans can stomach the occasional no-show because they know it is for the greater good. and it is flat out annoying to fans of other teams too.

but stern fining the spurs 250 grand for not showing up on tnt says "i dont want you to care about winning." if teams winning and maintaining the integrity of the game is what is important to stern, then he would have been doing this to every team and every coach for decades now. starting on this tnt game is very suspect.

so yeah, spurs fans do have a case of feeling picked on from this.

in an almost-related flashback...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2LRDO4jiBo[/youtube]