David Stern said the Spurs would face “substantial sanctions” for benching their star players for last night’s nationally televised game against the Heat and he wasn’t lying. Friday he dropped the gauntlet and fined the organization $250,000.
“The result here is dictated by the totality of the facts in this case,” commissioner David Stern said in a statement. “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.”
“The Spurs’ actions were in violation of a league policy, reviewed with the NBA Board of Governors in April 2010, against resting players in a manner contrary to the best interests of the NBA,” the statement read.
This is definitely a power move by Stern. He’s letting Popovich know who’s boss and setting an example for the entire league.
Check Mate: Stern