SPORTS PEOPLE: PRO BASKETBALL; Resting Two Players Brings Lakers a Fine
Published: April 25, 1990
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On the eve of the opening of the National Basketball Association playoffs, Commissioner David Stern yesterday fined the Los Angeles Lakers $25,000 because Coach Pat Riley failed to play two healthy starters Sunday night in Portland in the Lakers' final game of the season.
Magic Johnson and James Worthy suited up for the game and participated in pregame warm-ups, but did not play in the game, which the Lakers lost, 130-88, to the Trail Blazers. The defeat was the worst in Laker history, but the outcome had no effect on playoff matchups.
Riley also held out the veteran center Mychal Thompson, who is also a starter but had been out earlier this month because of a knee injury. Riley said after the game that he rested the three because he didn't want to risk injury to significant players before the playoffs.
Jerry Buss, the Lakers' owner, apologized yesterday to Trail Blazer fans and added in a statement that ''our fans would have been disappointed if the same thing happened here.''
Rod Thorn, the league's vice president for operations, said the N.B.A. had also fined the Lakers in 1985 when Riley held Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar out of the team's regular-season finale.