Stern to fine Spurs for sitting players

[blink]

the fine is not enough. The spurs and other teams will not feel 250K. The fine should have been about 1 million. You cannot sit players that have been advertized to play. The NBA is about championship but that is just what drives the number one objective of the league which is to make billions of dollars through entertainment. Championships are just the driver, the primary mission is entertainment. When I go to an NBA game I go to be entertained, I dont go to watch a championship. There are no championships in November.

You need to keep fans happy. If you disappoint fans they will talk with their feet. Sterns job is to make money for owners - he has done that fabulously.

For those of who that keep saying it is Pop job to win chips and do whatevr it takes,  say there are a lot of coaches that have that responsibilities in various leagues, but few sell billions of dollars of TV rights based on the high entertainment value of superstar athletes. They are the sellling point and they have to play when they can.

Faor those that say the tickets dont say you get to see player X or Y, that is true but the expectation is there that they will play when they are good to go.

The fine should have been more.

$1,000,000?  Are you serious?  The fans know that there is always a chance that a player won't be playing at a particular game, injuries, family issue, suspension, coach's decision.  I can't disagree with your post more.  This post is just silly.  Where in the nba bylaws does it say that a coach can't determine which players play on his team?  Stern is making this crap up as he goes along.  Do you think the spurs fans would rather have their team with a championship, or have a couple guys not rest on that one night?  This is idiotic.

[InfiniteMH]

I wish I knew where this came from. It didn't have a source.

But the caption was "You're next, Stern."

[GreenFaith1819]

Just finished listening to Skip Bayless and Stephen A discuss Pop's choice on ESPN.

While I see Skip's point, he sadly seems to forget that the only loser in Pop's choice is the Fans.

So what if the Schedule makers seem to be allegedly setting the Spurs up for a blowout? Put your horses out there and keep a "blowout" from happening - plain and simple.

Or - rest your star players BEFORE a BIG Nationally-televised game vs the Champs..I'm sure that there wouldn't have been ANY fines if Pop had chosen to do this a few days before the MIA game.

It just sends a bad message - and again the Fans lose out.

This post makes NO sense (hope I don't get in trouble, I'm trying to be careful).

Most of the post you're "worried" about the fans but say that Pop should have done it in another game before that one? Haha so you're saying, no one cares about the fans really, they just care about when they get the most money.

Yeah, you got Pops there....

I believe my post makes perfect sense, ImShakHesShaq.

From what I see - Pops decides to "send a message" to Stern and rest his top players and Danny Green - all of whom have been playing well as of late.

Pop allegedly has a problem with the shedule makers who seem to have favored a Championship winning team. Pop allegedly thought that his team was being set up for a blowout because they were supposedly so tired.

Tim Duncan is averaging 18.4 pts, 9.8 rebs, 2.5 blocks and 2.6 assists - all while playing 30.7 min per game.

Seems to me like Pop is already managing Tim's minutes quite well.

And Come On, ImShaq...we all know that the majority of the fans wanted to see all players on deck for the MIA game...and they could've played.

So when does it stop?

Again - if Pop would've rested Tim and perhaps Manu a game prior to the "Big" game, I bet there wouldn't have been ANY fallout.

And then he goes and doesn't even notifiy the league about his plans?

Way to buck the "system", there, lol.

[Ogaju]

the fine is not enough. The spurs and other teams will not feel 250K. The fine should have been about 1 million. You cannot sit players that have been advertized to play. The NBA is about championship but that is just what drives the number one objective of the league which is to make billions of dollars through entertainment. Championships are just the driver, the primary mission is entertainment. When I go to an NBA game I go to be entertained, I dont go to watch a championship. There are no championships in November.

You need to keep fans happy. If you disappoint fans they will talk with their feet. Sterns job is to make money for owners - he has done that fabulously.

For those of who that keep saying it is Pop job to win chips and do whatevr it takes,  say there are a lot of coaches that have that responsibilities in various leagues, but few sell billions of dollars of TV rights based on the high entertainment value of superstar athletes. They are the sellling point and they have to play when they can.

Faor those that say the tickets dont say you get to see player X or Y, that is true but the expectation is there that they will play when they are good to go.

The fine should have been more.

$1,000,000?  Are you serious?  The fans know that there is always a chance that a player won't be playing at a particular game, injuries, family issue, suspension, coach's decision.  I can't disagree with your post more.  This post is just silly.  Where in the nba bylaws does it say that a coach can't determine which players play on his team?  Stern is making this crap up as he goes along.  Do you think the spurs fans would rather have their team with a championship, or have a couple guys not rest on that one night?  This is idiotic.

where in the NBA advertizing to the consumer does it say these stars we advertize to you can choose not to play any game they want for no reason at all? $1,000,000 sounds about right. Like one poster suggested it would probably be he one game salary of all the players that sat out the game.

[Finkelskyhook]

as a coach, you have two goals...get through the regular season with as many Wins as possible and your stars healthy as possible. I dont see how resting your stars against a Contending team who won the championship last year fits that first billing..yes in hindsight they pushed the heat hard, but you are essentially forfeiting that game. say you are playing the dregs of the league, I think its more understandable if you say "ok we still have a high percentage of winning if we sit {....}" i dont get pops line of thinking here..

Unlike Rivers and Ainge the last half of 2006-2007.... Pops sure as hell wasn't forfeiting the game... In the spring of 2007 I came home on vacation to see a couple of games....Shortly after Paul Pierce put the C's on his back, scored 50, and willed the team to a win against Orlando. Pierce, obviously healthy...Along with most of the team's other best players were sat until we "clinched" the second worst record in the league. I was pretty disgusted at watching a ragtag bunch of players and paying full price for it. I was pretty much laughed at by a few people in here showing indignance towards Pop and the Spurs. Stern was much more underhanded dealing with us and the others who shamelessly tanked in 06-07.

[Donoghus]

And then he goes and doesn't even notifiy the league about his plans?

Why should he have to? He's not obligated to do such a thing. 

Where's the league rule requiring that?

[Ogaju]

why even have a roster. Since the fans should not expect any particular roster on any given day. Just have a team called the spurs and they can bring in any 12 players on any given day. Why have any kind of organized team, or expectations?

[GreenFaith1819]

And then he goes and doesn't even notifiy the league about his plans?

Why should he have to? He's not obligated to do such a thing. 

Where's the league rule requiring that?

Isn't there a League rule that states as such?

I'm pretty sure there is...

[GreenFaith1819]

And then he goes and doesn't even notifiy the league about his plans?

Why should he have to? He's not obligated to do such a thing. 

Where's the league rule requiring that?

The more I think about this post, Don - there is absolutely NO WAY that a coach can just do whatever he wants with his players without prior notifying the league....

[Fafnir]

And then he goes and doesn't even notifiy the league about his plans?

Why should he have to? He's not obligated to do such a thing. 

Where's the league rule requiring that?

The league has some fairly detailed and arcane rules involving travel arrangements and the like.

I bet that they used those clauses to get pop for this.

[Ogaju]

I am looking forward to the Cs playing tonight, but I am wondering now whether or not Garnett, Pierce,Bass or Green traveled with the team.

See it is the NBA where I am told all I should expect when I turn on my TV are five players on the court with  CELTICS uniforms. Perhaps Doc may decide to take the day off too. No one promised our coach had to show up.

[blink]

the fine is not enough. The spurs and other teams will not feel 250K. The fine should have been about 1 million. You cannot sit players that have been advertized to play. The NBA is about championship but that is just what drives the number one objective of the league which is to make billions of dollars through entertainment. Championships are just the driver, the primary mission is entertainment. When I go to an NBA game I go to be entertained, I dont go to watch a championship. There are no championships in November.

You need to keep fans happy. If you disappoint fans they will talk with their feet. Sterns job is to make money for owners - he has done that fabulously.

For those of who that keep saying it is Pop job to win chips and do whatevr it takes,  say there are a lot of coaches that have that responsibilities in various leagues, but few sell billions of dollars of TV rights based on the high entertainment value of superstar athletes. They are the sellling point and they have to play when they can.

Faor those that say the tickets dont say you get to see player X or Y, that is true but the expectation is there that they will play when they are good to go.

The fine should have been more.

$1,000,000?  Are you serious?  The fans know that there is always a chance that a player won't be playing at a particular game, injuries, family issue, suspension, coach's decision.  I can't disagree with your post more.  This post is just silly.  Where in the nba bylaws does it say that a coach can't determine which players play on his team?  Stern is making this crap up as he goes along.  Do you think the spurs fans would rather have their team with a championship, or have a couple guys not rest on that one night?  This is idiotic.

where in the NBA advertizing to the consumer does it say these stars we advertize to you can choose not to play any game they want for no reason at all? $1,000,000 sounds about right. Like one poster suggested it would probably be he one game salary of all the players that sat out the game.

No, $1,000,000 does not sound about right.  Especially when the NBA is saying the following:

From the Adam Silver:
Deputy commissioner Adam Silver, when asked about this very issue in April when it was happening all over the league, as it always does near the end of the regular season, conceded that "the strategic resting of particular players on particular nights is within the discretion of the teams."

[Donoghus]

And then he goes and doesn't even notifiy the league about his plans?

Why should he have to? He's not obligated to do such a thing. 

Where's the league rule requiring that?

Isn't there a League rule that states as such?

I'm pretty sure there is...

Possibly.  It depends on what you read and what may or may have not arisen from an April '10 league meeting.

From AP:

After that meeting, Stern said nothing had been established. Stern, commenting after that meeting about discussion of teams resting healthy players, said there was “no conclusion reached other than a number of teams thought it should be at the sole discretion of the team, the coach, the general manager and I think it’s fair to say I agree with that, unless that discretion is abused.”

Given some of the scenarios that have unfolded since then (see my above post on that Celtics-Heat TNT game), I think this is grasphing at straws at best and a pretty vague statementon the league's behalf. 

[Donoghus]

And then he goes and doesn't even notifiy the league about his plans?

Why should he have to? He's not obligated to do such a thing. 

Where's the league rule requiring that?

The league has some fairly detailed and arcane rules involving travel arrangements and the like.

I bet that they used those clauses to get pop for this.

I guess the question is, if so, why haven't they used cited these clauses before?

Is this really the first case of this?  C'mon...I don't know about that.

[Donoghus]

And then he goes and doesn't even notifiy the league about his plans?

Why should he have to? He's not obligated to do such a thing. 

Where's the league rule requiring that?

The more I think about this post, Don - there is absolutely NO WAY that a coach can just do whatever he wants with his players without prior notifying the league....

Did I say he could do whatever he wants? 

The country knew before the game that these guys weren't playing.  So the NBA also knew before the game.  Now it gets into this "timely manner" thing.  Evidently, the league office supposedly knows and there's even doubt cast on that.

I just see so many contradictory things from the league office on an issue like this that I have to question these sanctions as hypocritical at best.