Mark Cuban agrees with league for handing out hefty penalty to San Antonio Spurs – NBA News
The Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban believes that the NBA was absolutely right in laying a penalty on the San Antonio Spurs for not playing four starters in a nationally televised game against the Miami Heat on Thursday night,
saying that protecting relationships with television partners was one of the top most priorities of the league and rightly so.
San Antonio Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich decided to send Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green, four of the team’s best players, back to San Antonio before the game after they had already played a rigorous and
tough away schedule and Popovich wanted them well rested. However, David Stern, commissioner of the league, did not like the way in which the stars of the team were pulled out at the last minute, and handed a $250,000 penalty to the Spurs. Cuban feels the
NBA was right in doing so since media partners are one of the biggest sources of income for the league.
“Look, I respect the Spurs. Pop is the best coach in the league. I understand why he did it. I might even take the fine if it was us, but I understand why the league (fined the Spurs). It maybe should have even been higher, because
the amount at stake is enormous. I'm not saying the Mavs wouldn't have done the same thing, but I realize that it'd be a fineable offense,” said Cuban before his team beat the Pistons 92-77 on Saturday night.
Cuban also said that the league was equally to blame for the situation, putting the blame on them for scheduling a nationally televised game at the end of a five game road trip. He said that he had complained to the league office
on numerous occasions regarding the scheduling of the games, but his complaint fell on deaf ears each time.
"It's just as stupid to put a team in their fourth game in five nights on national television. That's just as dumb. You're not going to get as good of a performance, and that's what you want to show,” said Cuban, while arguing
that if players are entering a nationally televised game tired from a long trip including back to back games, they would not be able to deliver their best which would put out a bad image about the league.
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