Warriors coach Steve Kerr said the NBA should "get together with the broadcast partners" and "move some pieces around" with the schedule if it wants to avoid star players resting during nationally televised games, according to Connor Letourneau of the S.F. CHRONICLE. Kerr made the comments after he rested his star players during the Warriors' nationally televised loss to the Spurs on ABC on Saturday night. He said of possibly examining the schedule for teams in the lead-up to any nationally televised game, "Let’s really examine those previous 10 days." Letourneau notes the Warriors are "playing an NBA-high 28 national TV games this season" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/14). ESPN’s Amin Elhassan said the NBA “should be fining teams” for resting star players the way the Warriors did. He said networks "pay a lot of money" to the NBA to broadcast the games and that money is "contingent on you bringing the goods when we televise your games." Elhassan said the media is also to “blame,” because when Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was resting players the media was lauding him. ESPN’s Rachel Nichols: "To the NBA's credit, they are making a change next season. They are stretching out those 82 games over more calendar days" ("The Jump," ESPN2, 3/13). ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser said, "If there was a living, breathing commissioner in the league he would say, ‘You have to condemn this practice'" ("PTI," ESPN, 3/13).
HE SAID WHAT? Letourneau notes Warriors F Andre Iguodala has been "fined $10,000 for 'inappropriate comments' made" about not playing against the Spurs. Asked if he had known he would rest against the Spurs, Iguodala said, “Nope, no clue. I do what master say." Iguodala's racially-charged remarks "rippled through social media and left many to speculate that he was taking a shot at Kerr." Iguodala yesterday said, "It was probably the wrong time to express myself. We all have our own feelings, our opinions. I feel like we’re entitled to them." Meanwhile, Kerr said he "wasn't the slightest bit offended" by Iguodala's comments (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/14). CSNBAYAREA.com's Monte Poole wrote Iguodala "apologized, not so much for his racially provocative comments" but for the "unwanted affect his words had on the Warriors" (CSNBAYAREA.com, 3/13). In San Jose, Anthony Slater writes questions "still remain about who exactly the 'master' comment was directed toward." Slater: "If it wasn’t Kerr, could it have been at the league for the grueling schedule that led to the Warriors resting Iguodala, among others?" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 3/14).
TOO MUCH TALK: FS1’s Jason Whitlock said of the $10,000 fine for Iguodala, "I'm glad the NBA fined him, because I think the comments are irresponsible, I think they're uneducated. Allegedly he was trying to troll, but I think it's stupid and inappropriate. I think they should have fined him more. $10,000 is a slap on the wrist, but it doesn't surprise me this is going on with Golden State. This is Silicon Valley and that environment, in the San Francisco area, is hyper-political and hyper-progressive." FS1's Colin Cowherd said, "I’m getting to the point that when I think about Golden State, politics is one of the things I think about. ... I wonder if the league has given the players too much power" ("Speak For Yourself," FS1, 3/13).
