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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; David Stern isn't backing down from his decision to fine the Spurs. (Elsa/Getty Images)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong title=\"knicks-beat-sixers\"&gt;By\u00A0Ben Golliver&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Even with criticism coming from all corners over the last week, NBA commissioner David Stern stood by his decision to fine the Spurs $250,000 after coach Gregg Popovich elected to strategically rest four key players during a nationally-televised game last Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Speaking to the &lt;em&gt;New Orleans Times-Picayune&lt;/em&gt;\u00A0this week, Stern said that the decision was nothing personal against Popovich and that his authority to issue a fine, which has been questioned, derived from his ability to exercise \"discretion\" amid the situation's extreme circumstances.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stern said they had a big discussion at\u00A0the NBA\u2019s Board of Governors in April 2010 about sitting out\u00A0players in a manner contrary to the best interests of NBA. Stern said he told owners\u00A0he would maintain the responsibility of addressing the situation with the ability to levy fines to teams if they violated the policy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"The organization agreed they would take away four players, including a 26-year-old and a 30-year-old -- their four best players,\u2019\u2019 said Stern, who will be attending Wednesday night's game between the Hornets-Lakers at the New Orleans Arena. \"And they did it without notifying the league or the media the way they\u2019re supposed to for injury and illness. That, and the totality of all the circumstances, if this wasn\u2019t the appropriate time for exercising the discretion then there would never be an appropriate time. This is not about the coach, I\u2019m fine with Pop.\u2019\u2019&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"This is not about a coaching decision,'' Stern said. \"This is more about the relationship among our 30 teams and 30 owners.''&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Following those April 2010 meetings, Stern said, according to the Associated Press, that resting players was \"at the sole discretion of the team [and] the coach ... unless that discretion is abused.\" Deputy commissioner Adam Silver reiterated during the 2011-12 lockout-shortened season that such decisions were a coach's to make.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stern's statements mostly echoed the wording in the press release announcing the fine.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CThe result here is dictated by the totality of the facts in this case,\u201D commissioner David Stern said in a statement. \u201CThe Spurs decided to make four of their top players unavailable for an early-season game that was the team\u2019s 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.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CThe Spurs\u2019 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,\u201D the statement read.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Prior to tipoff between the Spurs and Heat, Stern had threatened to punish the Spurs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI apologize to all NBA fans,\u201D Stern said. \u201CThis was an unacceptable decision by the San Antonio Spurs and substantial sanctions will be forthcoming.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Popovich, of course, views strategically resting players as a coaching decision.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CWe\u2019ve done this before in hopes of making a wiser decision, rather than a popular decision,\u201D Popovich told reporters before the Heat game,\u00A0according to the\u00A0&lt;em&gt;San Antonio Express-News&lt;/em&gt;. \u201CIt\u2019s pretty logical.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;ESPN commentator Jeff Van Gundy, a former NBA coach,\u00A0slammed Stern while broadcasting a game last Friday, arguing that managing a roster is indeed a coaching decision.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CThe league is not right,\u201D he said. \u201CI don\u2019t think Gregg Popovich is wrong. \u2026 He\u2019s trying to [rest his guys together] in one game so his team plays together as much as possible, to give himself the best chance of winning. A big part of any coach\u2019s job is to pace your team correctly. That means how much you play them, how many minutes, how long you practice. That\u2019s what his job is. To say he doesn\u2019t have the right to do that [is wrong].\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Celtics coach Doc Rivers also sided with Popovich.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CYou\u2019ve got to coach your team to win in the long run and you have to do whatever you need to do,\u201D Rivers said before a Friday game against the Blazers,\u00A0according to the Associated Press. \u201CIf that\u2019s sitting players, you sit players.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, however, backed Stern, according to ESPNDallas.com.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CWe\u2019re still a business. Resting the stars for the long haul one game earlier, one game later, sure. Resting when you\u2019ve got our biggest customer at stake, that\u2019s a whole different animal.\u00A0I\u2019m not saying the Mavs wouldn\u2019t have done the same thing, but I realize that it\u2019d be a fineable offense. And if it was me, it\u2019d probably be 10 times as much.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stern's statements here obscure rather than clarify the issue, at least until you read between the lines. Leading his explanation by pointing out that the Spurs rested their four best players -- Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green -- fails to address the Spurs' repeated practice of strategic resting in previous seasons. Pointing out that the Spurs didn't inform the league office in advance of their decision is equally confusing; if injury reporting protocol was violated here, was it also violated in the past? Yes or no, was a simple injury reporting protocol violation worth a $250,000 fine, gigantic by NBA standards?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When Stern advances to oblique phrases like \"totality of the circumstances\" and \"relationship among our 30 teams and 30 owners\" we finally get a hint of what was really driving this fine. Of course, as Cuban said in much plainer English, the fine was really all about protecting the league's relationship with its television partners and advertisers.\nStern announced earlier this season that he will step down as commissioner on Feb. 1, 2014.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/nba/point-forward/2012/12/06/david-stern-gregg-popovich-spurs-fine>