The Cleveland Cavaliers heard it from the highers-up after sitting their stars on Saturday in a nationally televised game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Cavs general manager David Griffin said that he received a call from the league office minutes after it was announced that the team would be holding out their Big Three of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love for rest Saturday on the first game of a back-to-back, per Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.
Cavs GM David Griffin said he received a call from the NBA league office after it was announced Cleveland was sitting Ky, Kevin and Bron
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) March 19, 2017
When did the league call? Griff: "Seven minutes after it was announced. Yeah, they were not happy."
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) March 19, 2017
The wear and tear of the NBA season has spurred teams (no pun intended) to sit their stars more and more often in recent seasons, leaving the fans/paying customers to deal with a junior varsity product on the floor some nights. While commissioner Adam Silver has appeared open to the idea of easing the brutality of the 82-game schedule (especially when the issue arose recently with another league heavyweight), it will be interesting to see if the Cavaliers face any punishment as there is some precedent for that after all.
