The NBA recently sent a memo to each team about the ever-so-popular idea of resting star players, warning clubs of “significant penalties” if protocol wasn’t followed prior to when the players were rested.
It started back in 2012, when the Spurs’ Gregg Popovich decided to sit five healthy players before a marquee game against Miami. Since then, numerous other teams have followed suit in giving star players additional rest during games — sometimes highly anticipated, such as the Saturday Night Primetime games this season.
Popovich, who spoke earlier in the week on resting players, doesn’t seem to be backing up commissioner Adam Silver on his latest memo, which asks that owners be somewhat involved in the process of resting players.
“I understand Adam’s concern, and it’s a legitimate concern,” Popovich said, via ESPN. “We all have it. We all feel badly about [it]. I think they used the example of the young man and his dad or whatever. They’ve saved up their money. They want to go see somebody play, and that person’s not there. I get it. If it was me, I’d be miffed myself. But we all have different roles, different jobs, and different goals. We can’t satisfy everybody. But I think that every owner’s gonna be different. I think it’s a slippery slope, and makes it difficult to keep trust, and camaraderie to the degree that I think you have to have to be successful in this league if owners get too involved in what coaches and GMs are doing.”
Popovich, widely regarded as one of the league’s greatest coaches of all time, believes ownership having input is acceptable. However, Popovich made it clear that a franchise pays coaches and executives to primarily manage day-to-day operations for players, and owners shouldn’t overstep any boundaries to change this.
“I think keeping owners informed about what’s going on is mandatory, and having input is fine,” Popovich said. “But I think there has to be an understanding that coaches and GMs have brains also, and we know who pays the bills. It’s a slippery slope, I think, if owners got too involved in that process. That trust relationship in those three areas is really important in creating a culture and making something that can be long-lasting. I’ve been here over 20 years. I think that says it all. They just let us do our jobs. We keep them informed as we should. And the chips fall where they may. If we’re not successful, I’m sure we’ll be gone just like anybody’s gone if things don’t work out well.”
Gregg Popovich has a fair point: Ownership shouldn’t get too involved in decisions that involve resting players. Having input is certainly acceptable, but overstepping boundaries could break the trust and relationship between owners and team staff.
