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Incidentally, he just fined the Spurs a quarter of million dollars for not suiting up Duncan et al for the Miami game. Another dumb move. Kudos to Pops for another shrewd mind game, I say.
I disagree with you here. I think Stern absolutely had to take steps before this got out of hand and Pop had to have known he was crossing a line. They are individual entities but each franchise has a responsibility to do what's best for them AND what's best for the league as a whole and this is a bad thing for the league. How do you sell this product if a team is allowed to pick and choose the nights they compete? It's one thing to do it down the stretch in preparation for the playoffs but to do it in November is just a slap in the face of the league.
If you let them do it like this then what's to stop Phoenix from resting all their starters one night in Miami so they have a better chance to beat a more beatable Orlando team the next night? Or keeping them home on a 3 game road swing against the best teams in the East so that they'll be better rested for the Sacramento and Golden State home games that follow? Or what's to stop Miami from leaving Lebron and Wade home because they know they don't really need to win every night?This is a business, it's entertainment and it's a competition. It's hard to balance all three and actions like this would make it much tougher to do IMO.
Steve