When it comes to NBA teams resting their superstars, Adam Silver is about to channel his inner David Stern.
Or so we hope -- along with thousands of NBA fans, no doubt.
In his strongest comments to date on what has become the league’s thorniest issue, Silver on Monday warned his owners that he’s about to impose “significant penalties’’ for teams that break the league’s rules regarding rest.
So let's be clear: Silver still isn't opposed to rest, he just wants the rules upheld. He wants teams to give plenty of warning that their stars aren't playing, but rest is still OK.
It's too bad that Silver didn't take some much-needed action by withholding players' game paychecks for taking games off. That would end the practice one and for all, but Silver isn't about to start World War III.
So Silver went the threat route and we'll see how many teams stop the anti-fan practice to actually notice. His memo to the 30 NBA team owners was obtained by ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, only two days after the latest travesty: LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were late scratches from the ABC Saturday Night Primetime game against the Los Angeles Clippers, creating another firestorm that would have been the talk of the sports world if not for something called the NCAA Tournament. When most of America is caught up in seeing if their brackets are getting busted, you know the NBA is flying under the radar. But the Cavs’ decision to boycott the featured game came on the heels of another embarrassing moment for Silver, who has enjoyed an otherwise charmed life as the NBA commissioner.
Only a week earlier the Warriors held out their four top players – two-time defending MVP Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala – when they played on the league’s marquee weekend national telecast, at San Antonio.
Yeah, it’s a big problem when the league's marquee players don't give a hoot about a big Saturday night game on ABC, a big partner, and Silver hasn't had many of those (like none) in his time running the show.
Silver says he's about to put the hammer down, even if he’s stated previously that he understands the need for his stars to rest up during the 82-game regular season to be fresh for when the real games are played. So he's not going to take away their pay, as much as it makes sense and would end the despicable practice dead in its tracks.
But if he starts fining teams $250,000 for sitting players on short notice, infuriating fans who pay top dollar for tickets and often travel major distances to catch the league’s top stars, he’ll have taken a page right out of Stern’s play book. Doing something more drastic, like taking away a team’s first-round draft pick, which has been done when teams have been found to have tampered in free-agent signings, will probably be too drastic, in this case.
Silver stated that it is unacceptable for owners to be "un-involved or defer decision-making'' on this topic to others in their organizations, who may not have the same awareness of the impact these decisions can have on "fans and business partners," the reputation of the league and "perception of our game."
Resting superstars has created a massive negative backlash with fans and a PR nightmare for the league. Teams are to blame, using advanced science to justify sitting players to deal with the sometimes brutal schedule. James has sat out six games this season for resting purposes, with the Cavaliers always on the road. What made the Clipper game look really bad was that he was seen with what looked like a cup of coffee on the bench as he took in the action.
Bad optics, no doubt, but LeBron is only doing what he learned from the San Antonio Spurs and their VP-coach Gregg Popovich, who added years to Hall of Famer Tim Duncan’s career by resting his franchise stud. Rarely, if ever, at home, by the way.
Stern famously fined the Spurs $250,000 in the early part of 2012 when they sent Duncan and their other top three players home before taking on James' Heat in Miami in a nationally-televised game. Stern called the Spurs' actions "a disservice to the league and to our fans.’’
Stern was right: The NBA fans are the ones getting ripped off.
Well, we're five years down the road and the Spurs are still doing it. And guess what? Everybody has copied the NBA's model franchise, so it's gotten worse. It's become such an accepted practice that there is talk about shortening the season, an inane idea since there's no guarantee players won't keep sitting if it's a 70-game season. At this point, it's part of the NBA's culture.
Not that the NBA's TV partners like ABC/ESPN or Turner Broadcasting like it one bit. They don't and they're the best thing to happen to the league, footing the record $24-billion TV deal that runs through 2023. That Mt. Everest of money has secured seven more years of labor peace, filled the owners' coffers and triggered another round of exploding salaries for players.
Thanks to TV, there's one place NBA superstars never rest: On their way to the bank.
