Mannix: By fining Spurs, NBA commissioner has set a dangerous precedent

[ace3g]

NEW YORK -- Somewhere in the NBA's offices in Olympic tower, someone had to have begged David Stern to stop. You flew off the handle, David, I'm imagining someone saying, let's see if we can find you a graceful way out. Let's put this talk of slapping "substantial sanctions" -- whatever that was supposed to mean -- on the San Antonio Spurs back into the cereal box you pulled it out of and live to fight another day.

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/chris_mannix/12/01/david-stern-spurs-fine-wrong/index.html#ixzz2DpNbVlok




"The Spurs think they are above the league," said an Eastern Conference team executive. "If he wanted to rest guys, he didn't have to do it all at once. He could have said they were injured but he was pissed about the schedule."

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/chris_mannix/12/01/david-stern-spurs-fine-wrong/index.html#ixzz2DpNkPZCT



http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/chris_mannix/12/01/david-stern-spurs-fine-wrong/index.html

[Bill_Brasky]

Is that Sisk or DesignatedT in the background

[wildbill2u]

Wonder if the unnamed "Eastern Conference team executive" is from the Knicks??? Wojnarowski tore Stern a new one while accusing him of being partial to the Knicks. Natural that they would support their patron, Stern.

[Manu-20]

Lol the spurs think their above the league as if these teams has ego's to deal with, no my friends what they have to deal with is some BS schedule that intentionally tried to screw us over.

[Trainwreck2100]

He could have said they were injured but he was pissed about the schedule."

:cry why didn't he lie like we all do :cry

[easjer]

They are above everyone else because they didn't fake an injury? Um. Ok. It doesn't matter if Pop asked them all to hold signs saying Fuck David Stern as they flew home. Stern cannot be allowed to decide on what have always been and what should coaching decisions. The culture of the NBA and the commissioner's office is such that violating no rules and being honest about your long term strategies of doing the best for your team's chances of winning is considered detrimental and lying about injuries is considered more appropriate. What does that really say about the state of the league?

Additionally, ratings, marquee match ups, schedule, none of it matters. Either all games are equally important and all fans are equally important or they need to stop pretending that things are fair or unbiased and simply become an outright entertainment group and stop pretending to be a competitive sport.

[Obstructed_View]

"Thinking you're above everyone else" = refusing to lie. Nice.

[ChuckD]

Wonder if the unnamed "Eastern Conference team executive" is from the Knicks??? Wojnarowski tore Stern a new one while accusing him of being partial to the Knicks. Natural that they would support their patron, Stern.

I would be on Knicks, Nets, or, now that Ferry is gone, Cavs. I only exclude, among Finals opponents vanquished, the Pistons, because Dumars is a good egg.

[redskinfan]

So they should have Not rested all at the same time? Screw your team 2 or 3 games instead of 1, why didn't Pop think of that?

[KaiRMD1]

Almost everybody who has defended David Stern has almost always followed it up with "David Stern has done a great job with the league" or something along those lines.

[99 Problems]

Form an indep' ethics commission. Lets investigate all team sheets for say the last 5 seasons. Lets put people in the box under oath and have a red hot crack at them. NBA has seen fit to open this can of worms lets tip it out and cringe.

[crellis]

David Stern's insistence that he control every single aspect of the NBA will forever tarnish his legacy. He has over stepped the line that he wouldn't even be able to see it in his rear vision mirror - and once you have stepped that far out there is no where to hide what you really think about certain NBA organisations. He has violated the inner sanctum of Coach-Player relationship by penalising what is deemed best for an organisation's chance of success. The next time that Pop wants to rest players (and we all know that Pop will want to shove this right up Stern's arse before he retires in early 2014) he will start Tim, Tony, Manu and another two people who he wants to rests, have them complete the first play, call a timeout and then not play them for the rest of the game!

[Baseline]

Stern has always run the NBA like a dictatorship.

But now everynody knows it. Because like all dictators, his power/money hunger consumed him, and we went way over the line.

His legacy is that of an egomaniacal dictator - nothing more.