See this is EXACTLY the type of reason why I quit law school after the first year. In fact, this will now be by go-to example for why I did.
Forgive my over-generalization of this because I'm going to lay out the legal ramifications of all this in "layman's terms" here....
Issue 1: Spurs' Contractual Obligations:
Coaches are contracted by the teams to COACH, by definition meaning to use their discretion regarding gameplay strategy for the betterment of the team. Pop satisfied this contractual obligation ("coaching") by resting his players.
Thus, Issue 2: Breach of Contract and Spurs' Affirmative Defense:
By Stern fining the the Spurs for their coach doing what he was contractually obligated to do, Stern is in effect fining the Spurs for their employee NOT BREACHING his contract. (This fine would most likely fall under "unconscionability," and it would absolutely shock me if the Spurs/players association had not filed suit against the league for the Spurs' fine on that basis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconscionability)
Issue 3: Stern Gives Lawyer Standing but Still Improper Venue:
In order to successfully file suit court, you have to have two things:
1) "Standing," which means you need to have a 'rational' (in as much as one can objectify what it means to be 'rational') basis for the suit. Plaintiff DOES have this element, because $tern fining the Spurs "shows" that they did something wrong, thus someone must have been 'injured,' and thus their is a rational basis to bring the suit. Plaintiff does not have to show that there was a rational basis for $tern's actions (the fine); merely that there was a rational basis for plaintiff's actions (the suit). IF $tern had not fined the Spurs, there would be no standing and thus the case would be thrown out immediately. However, the case still fails because of...
2) You must file the suit in the proper venue. Spurs Sports and Entertainment would be the proper company (holding company) to sue. Due to various taxation legalities, more than likely they're incorporated in a state other than Texas. So this lawyer needs to file in FEDERAL court, not state court. If he files in STATE court, the suit will be thrown out for lack standing, improper venue, and being a frivolous lawsuit. In that event, plaintiff will have to pay SS&E's legal fees. UNLESS this lawyer took the case on a contingent fee basis, which means the attorney will only get paid if the plaintiff wins; if not, his legal fees might as well be pro bono work.... Basically, for this lawyer, filing in a FL state court, he's essentially going to pay a hefty price for some advertising for his firm.
Issue 3: DTPA (deceptive trade practices act) Does NOT Govern Case at Hand as claimed by plaintiff's lawyer; HOWEVER, ESPN et. al. MIGHT be at Fault:
Again over-simplifying here, but NBA games are listed on the tickets (legal jargon: "consideration") as "Spurs vs. Heat," NOT "Duncan, Parker, Ginobili vs. Heat." IF tickets did read that, then a suit under the DTPA might succeed. However, anyone who has ever attended any law school class ever even while hungover and under the influence of boredom can still tell you that DTPA does not govern the case at hand. HOWEVER, the plaintiff might have a DTPA or detrimental reliance/breach of contract case against a company such as ESPN if the plaintiff can show that they purchased the game tickets after an ESPN et. al. broadcast advertising "Come see Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs take on a group of the three stooges of public relations and their supporting cast of has-beens looking for rings!"
(Black and) Silver Lining:
This suit is gonna bring a Robert Tractor Traylor load of free press to the Spurs, and thus more revenue for one Peter Holt.
So you can thank that lawyer who took his frivilous lawsuits to south beach when the Spurs "all of the sudden" have a little more financial flexibility from Holt -- all of that lawyer's hard work is going to earn the Spurs enough free press to cover luxury tax payments for at least a season or two.