Gregg Popovich 'disappointed' by fine

SAN ANTONIO -- Gregg Popovich said Saturday night he doesn't know if the San Antonio Spurs will appeal a $250,000 fine from the NBA for sending his star players home to rest instead of playing them against the Miami Heat.
Speaking publicly for the first time since NBA commissioner David Stern handed down the stiff penalty Friday, the Spurs coach and team president said he was "disappointed" in the decision.


"What I do from my perspective is from a coaching perspective," said Popovich before the Spurs defeated the Grizzlies 99-95 in overtime on Saturday night. "And I think the league operates from a business perspective. And I think that's reflective in the action that they took."
Rather than play Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili -- three of the NBA's biggest names -- against LeBron James and Miami in a nationally televised game Thursday night, Popovich put them on a plane and sent them home. It came at the end of a six-game road trip and after the Spurs had played five times in seven days.
Swingman Danny Green was also put on that early flight to San Antonio. Popovich justified his decision in Miami by saying he didn't want to subject Green and his aging Big Three to so much wear and tear this early in the season.