Much like his mentor Gregg Popovich on numerous occasions in the past, Warriors coach Steve Kerr made no apologies for deciding to sit his star players for a nationally televised game.
The Warriors, already without Kevin Durant due to injury, sat Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson. All four were healthy, but Kerr, after considering the recent schedule and consulting with his training staff, opted to give them the night off.
“I genuinely feel bad for the fans who bought tickets and came to see Steph or Klay or Draymond,” Kerr told reporters after a 107-85 loss in San Antonio. “But I have to do what I have to do.”
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For the showcase game Saturday night between Kerr’s Warriors and Popovich’s Spurs, the NBA -- America’s most star-driven league -- came up extremely short on entertainment value.
Though Popovich also sat four players, all were dealing with various ailments. MVP candidate Kawhi Leonard, five-time All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge and six-time All-Star Tony Parker were on the sideline, along with reserve Dejounte Murray.
The result was a nondescript affair that had the languid feel of a preseason game in Tijuana.
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Which, naturally, disappointed the fans who bought tickets, as well as those who made plans to spend the evening watching two elite teams attack each other in pursuit of the No. 1 overall seed for the postseason.
Kerr, though, is coaching both the roster and the schedule, all while keeping an eye on the postseason, which could last as long as two months.
The Warriors arrived at their San Antonio hotel around 3 a.m. Saturday morning, having made the 1,100-mile flight from Minneapolis, which came one day after a 1,600-mile Oakland-Minneapolis flight, which came less than 48 hours after a 2,200-mile Atlanta-Oakland flight, which came one day after an 800-mile flight from New York at Atlanta.
“I think the league understands this issue. I think the league is going to do everything in its power to try to avoid this kind of scheduling, as best they can,” Kerr said. “Adam . . . has been fantastic in terms of being open-minded and being willing to work with the players and the teams on these issues."
The schedule-makers stuck several teams with the one-game homestand in the middle of a heavy travel schedule. Though the league has eliminated four-games-in-five-nights scheduling, there remain plenty of three-in-four, as well as back-to-back games between cities in completely different regions.
Discussions to shorten the schedule generally go nowhere, though the new Collective Bargaining Agreement adds another seven to the schedule, which will result in fewer back-to-back sets and a few more off days.
That’s next season, though. For now, the grind is on. And after five games in seven days, across four time zones, involving four distinctly different regions of the country, Kerr, after consultation with the team training staff, it was concluded that San Antonio was the optimal rest stop.
“Our team has been through the wringer here the last couple weeks,” Kerr said. “The travel has really worn us out. We needed to get through this game, and I’m really happy those guys are going to get several days’ rest before our next game.”