The San Antonio Spurs visited the NBA defending champion Miami Heat Nov. 29 for a national broadcast game. The TV contract that went into the game and the ticket sales expected a marquee matchup between top contenders in the East and West conferences. They expected a measuring stick for a possible NBA Finals showdown in June. The morning before the game, San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich sent Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, Tony Parker and Danny Green, four of the team’s five starters, home on a commercial flight.
The absence of four of the team’s top performers overshadowed the game that ensued, which Miami won 105-100. Many fans who tuned in with expectations of the game of the season so far changed the channel when they heard San Antonio was short-handed on its starters. Prior to tip-off, NBA commissioner David Stern announced the Spurs would face sanctions for Popovich’s move to not play his starters during the nationally-televised matchup.
Stern should have no power to sanction a team because of a decision in the best interests of the players in the organization. Popovich had alternatives available to him. He could have rested his starters when they played the Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards or Orlando Magic during the road trip, none of which aired on national TV. However, his choice intends to help his main front last through June, not just to spite the league or their broadcast partners.
There are no provisions in the rules barring this move. Television contracts cannot and should not dictate what teams can and cannot do when on national airwaves. Gregg Popovich, in his time with the Spurs, won four NBA titles, the most recent in 2007. San Antonio has remained a top power in the Western Conference for as long as most basketball fans of the millennial generation can remember. Popovich already proved he knows how to coach a team and maintain championship caliber down the stretch.
Three starters that rested that night are also among the older members of the team. Tim Duncan (36), Manu Ginobli (35) and Tony Parker (30) make up half of the Spurs 30 or older. They have remained with the team for most of Popovich’s time in San Antonio. They also have the three highest salaries on the team (Ginobli at $14,107,492; Parker at $12,500,000 and Duncan at $9,638,554). These figures alone show the long-term investment the ownership continues to pour into their starters, and Popovich shows he wants to make their returns last as long as possible.
Commissioner Stern has never taken this course of action when a high-level team rested its starters on the road. The Spurs starters in question have rested on the road before without penalty. Stern bases his sanctions off of TV ratings and money, two of the larger roots of evil in sports today. If he would not punish the Spurs or any team for sitting its key players on the road before, he cannot do so now. He would set a double standard and accelerate his growing unpopularity among NBA fans, many of whom already demand his removal as commissioner. I am a Dallas Mavericks fan, but the gross misjudgment here gives me no choice but to defend the San Antonio Spurs on this issue.
