NBA fines Spurs $25,000 for resting players in a game they won by 26 points

The NBA fined the San Antonio Spurs $25,000 for resting three players in Saturday’s game against the Phoenix Suns.

The San Antonio Spurs are coming off a huge 111-85 win over the Phoenix Suns, who are in second place in the Western Conference. Their reward for their upset victory? A fine by the NBA!

On Sunday, the league fined San Antonio $25,000 for violating the player resting policy, despite beating the Suns by 26 points. The Spurs decided to sit DeMar DeRozan, Patty Mills and Jakob Poetl for the contest after they played the night prior against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Spurs fined $25,000 for resting healthy players in what turned out to be a blowout

The NBA’s player resting player policy states that a team can not rest multiple healthy players for a game. The only time they can rest healthy players is for home games. Since the Spurs did this in Phoenix, they have seen $25,000 deducted from their bank account.

After last season was paused due to the coronavirus pandemic, the campaign officially reached its end this past October inside the Orlando bubble. The offseason was limited to two months, where the current 72-game regular season began days before Christmas and ends in mid-May. Yet, the NBA is giving no leeway to teams on resting players.

The Spurs were not the only team this past week to be fined for violating the league’s player resting policy. The Toronto Raptors were fined $25,000 on Saturday over resting players and injury reporting.

Sure, losing $25,000 is tough pill to swallow, but we are sure the Spurs not sweating it. Especially since they won against a top team in the West without DeRozan, Mills and Poetl in the lineup.