SAN ANTONIO - The NBA has fined the San Antonio Spurs $250,000.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich sent stars Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green on a commercial flight home instead of playing them in a nationally televised game against the Miami Heat Thursday.
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."
What a clash of egos, huh?
A Spurs spokesman told News 4 WOAI the team will have no comment.
Was Pop wrong? Lebron says no, “Pop runs his team how he wants to run his team. He's a great coach.”
Not everyone agrees. Mike Bianchi from the Orlando Sentinel wrote, “Hey, everybody, let's all be like Spurs players and take off work because we're ‘tired.’ Let's see how the economy does then.”
And for those who say pop robbed Miami fans the chance to see the Big 3 in action? From TNT's David Aldridge, “If the public cared so much about these stars, how come it never watched them in any of San Antonio's Finals appearances?”
The big issue here is rest. Pop chose that over a nationally televised game. Does rest this early in the season really mean that much? You and I don't know, but 14-year NBA veteran David Robinson certainly does. He agrees with Pop’s move.
