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The NBA Isn’t Happy With the Cavs Sitting Three Key Starters in Saturday’s Nationally Televised Game
The Cleveland Cavaliers are doing what’s best for them, and right now the NBA is none too happy about it.
Yes, the league has again reared it’s head into the business of their NBA Champions, as reports state the league is ticked off for Cleveland sitting stars LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving after all three sat out Saturday in their 30-point loss on ABC against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Online casino gambling rightfully so had the Cavs as heavy underdogs going into the game, and losing by 30 doesn’t look good for the league after last week most of the starters due to various reasons didn’t play in the San Antonio-Golden State game in another nationally televised ABC game that was a yawn fest.
So today the league took it upon themselves to contact the Cavs to voice their displeasure about none of the big three playing, as Cavs general manager David Griffin confirmed to ESPN that the league did indeed talk to the team about not playing James, Love and Irving.
Cleveland general manager David Griffin told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne that the league office called him shortly after the team announced its decision Saturday.
“Yeah, they were not happy,” Griffin said.
But the GM also said it isn’t his job to appease the league and its television partners (which include ESPN).
“Yeah, and they’re paying me to win a championship,” he told Shelburne. “I’m not overly concerned about the perception of it. We literally had one guy rest tonight, and everybody else was reasonably injured, so I don’t feel like we did anything terribly egregious.”
Fans pay big time cash (even more so in a place like Los Angeles) to see a player like James play, since he only plays there once a season, which could be why it’s not good for the image of the league for them to have the champs sit three big players at once.
Griffin does have a valid point though, as it’s not up to the Cavs to care about what the league thinks about a meaningless March regular season game when there’s bigger fish to fry in the postseason.
Start fining teams for not playing their best players and you open up a total can of worms on what’s right and wrong when it comes to the league.
It’s not the first time this season the Cavs have sat their big three starters in a game, and it likely won’t be the last. And frankly, there’s really nothing the league can do about it.
The post The NBA Isn’t Happy With the Cavs Sitting Three Key Starters in Saturday’s Nationally Televised Game appeared first on Slam Dunk Central.
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Source: http://www.slamdunkcentral.com/nba-isnt-happy-cavs-sitting-three-key-starters-saturdays-nationally-televised-game/
