The NBA’s version of Monday Night Football occurs Thursday nights when there is a doubleheader, often involving four of the league’s best teams.

This week, in the night’s opening game, the San Antonio Spurs paid a visit to the Miami Heat and their coach, Gregg Popovich, pulled a stunt that bordered on the ridiculous.

In a game which should have been a star-studded affair for television viewers as well as Heat fans that shelled out plenty of big bucks to watch, Popovich chose to rest four of his starting five players.

The Spurs usually tip things off with Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Danny Green and Gary Neal.

On Thursday night, the visitors opened with a lineup which featured Matt Bonner, Boris Diaw, Tiago Splitter, Patrick Mills and Nando De Colo — hardly a blockbuster bunch.

@iraheatbeat Spent $360 dollars for a pair of Heat tickets tonight and the other teams best players are taking the night off??! #cmonman

— Marvin Simeon (@MarvinSimeon) November 29, 2012

It was the second of back-to-back games for the Spurs, who were coming off a road win over the Orlando Magic and are looking ahead to a matchup with a divisional rival — the Western Conference leading Memphis Grizzlies — on Saturday. In the midst of a heavy slate of games, Popovich sent a quartet of players home on a plane to San Antonio to get a little extra rest for his squad.

“It’s the best thing for our team,” Popovich told reporters before the game.

But the Spurs, who were also missing Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Jackson, were left with nine players to face the defending NBA champions.

It ended up being a result that surprised almost everyone as San Antonio pushed the Heat right until the end, as the final score read 105-100.

It was closer than it should have been although you got the sense that Miami took their foot off the gas pedal a little bit knowing that they were facing Spurs Lite.

NBA commissioner David Stern released a statement on Thursday night in the middle of the game which read, “I apologize to all NBA fans. This was an unacceptable decision by the San Antonio Spurs and substantial sanctions will be forthcoming.”

Pop did this 3 times last season. Said then he never heard anything from the league about it.

— Jeff McDonald (@JMcDonald_SAEN) November 30, 2012

Stern could have laid this issue to rest last season when Popovich rested his players at several points. For one game, Duncan was simply listed as DNP-Old on the game sheet. Is that any worse than the standard ankle injury that teams generally resort to?

Of course, that is not really the issue; The question here is: Should Popovich be allowed to do this?

His defenders will argue that Popovich has the right to deploy his team as he sees fit, and while there is something to be said for that, to rest his entire starting line-up against the Heat seems to border on ridiculous.

He could have made his life easier by simply resting his players on Wednesday against Orlando or one at a time over the course of the season but Popovich decided to push the envelope.

The easy counterargument is the fans and TV networks pay the bills and while NBA players are athletes, they are also entertainers. People attend games or tune in to watch top-notch entertainment and they deserve the best bang for their buck.

There is also the competitive balance issue to consider as well.

How will the Spurs’ decision affect the standings at the end of the season? The Spurs were resting the players as no other playoff team does. Is this not an unfair competitive advantage?

Penalty will be revealing. Spurs owned by Peter Holt, a powerful owner who was front and center during the lockout negotiations.

— Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixSI) November 30, 2012

I am not sure how Stern will be able to justify punishing the Spurs. The actual punishment will likely be a fine but the Spurs deserve more than a Stern warning.

An interesting idea would be to force Popovich to face the Grizzlies without Duncan, Ginobli, Parker and Green.

If these players are so tired that they need to skip a game, let them have an extra couple of days off.

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