Hey Dummies, It’s Just A Television Show!
David Stern has done it again. After Gregg Popovich sent his star players home early to rest prior to a game against the Miami Heat, David Stern decided to flex his muscles.
And when David Stern gets his nose twisted about the Spurs, you can rest assured that the punishment will in no way fit the crime.
David Stern has fined the Spurs $250,000. A quarter of a million American Dollars. But let’s hear from the NBA:
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.
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.”
Let’s just see how completely full of shit that statement is. The Spurs Actions were in violation of a league policy…against resting players in a manner contrary to the best interestes if the NBA. Well define best interests. One could easily say that resting Tim Duncan, quite possibly the greatest Power Forward to ever play, ensuring his health and longevity and in turn helping one of your model franchises compete for a title would be in the best interests of the NBA. One could easily say that resting the aging and/or injured Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, two of your brightest international stars, setting them up for playoff success would be in the best interest of the league.
David Stern decided that the Spurs did a disservice to the league. Not that playing 6(!) consecutive road games in 9(!!) nights is a disservice to the league. As all sports leagues give lip service to players safety, no one really cares. The players are a commodity, not unlike gold or silver. Their value fluctuates but there will always be miners digging up more gold. The schedule makers could easily have rectified that situation. No team, while living in hotels and dining on restaurant food and traveling through time zones can play at their best. But that’s ok, because it is a service to the league to have a tired team slogging through too many games without enough rest.
Here is the gist of the problem. Taking away any defense of Coach Popp or David Stern. There are two opposing factors at work and they can not be rectified. Coach Popp’s job is to prepare his team as best he can in order to win games and contend for a title. David Stern needs to juggle that with marketing and advertising contracts, Ad sales and Television partners. No easy task.
To the Spurs the NBA is an Athletic Competition.
To the NBA the Spurs are a Cast of Characters in a Sitcom.
The truth is, for better or worse, that the NBA is a television show. No different from Dallas or Night Court. Ratings wax and wane. Stars come and go. When the audience doesn’t like someone, your marketing team creates a new star.
And until the NBA understands that they can’t have it both ways, this will happen. The underlings will put a cost benefit on wins. And in the case of the Spurs, Popp is right. Why not rest your best guys at the end of a long road trip in a game you are likely to lose?
What I hope happens is that Greg Poppovich, says “you know what, I won’t send them home. I’ll bring them, start them and then sit them two minutes in. Find a rule that forbids that.” And challenge David Stern to continue his Mr.McMahon routine.
Because in all honesty, for the good he’s done, his resume can’t leavout the following: Hid the bad side of Jordan, possibly rigged the Ewing draft, rigged the Chris Paul trade, had Tim Donaghy on payroll and has more shady outcomes to its competitions than Boxing. And now, he gets to decide how teams get to play.
But he gets to do that because he’s the producer and The NBA is nothing more than a Televsion Show.
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