Splitting the Baby

NBA Commissioner David Stern fined the Spurs $250,000 for resting their best players, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green against the Miami Heat. Not just resting them, sending them on a plane back to San Antonio.
Mostly I side with David Stern on this, not because of what Popovich did, but they way he did it. He didn't alert the league in a timely fashion as he is supposed to, which is the official rule Stern used to support his fine. And he didn't do it because his players needed rest, because if that were the case he could have given them different nights off.
He did it as a fuck you to the league for what he thought was unfair scheduling. It was the Spurs 6th road game in 9 nights so Pop was being a dick about it. I think he tanked the game in what should have been a great showdown between two top teams and a potential Finals preview. But there a lot of circumstances in Pop's favor. First of all, it's his team and he can do what he wants. Stern intervening creates a slippery slope argument. He never gets involved when playoff bound teams rest their stars late in the season. And he seldom says anything about covert tanking by bad teams trying to get a draft pick.
Don't forget, the Spurs almost won the game.
Also, Pop has done stuff like this before, resting the Big 3 all at once, I presume risking only one game, instead of 3 if he spaces out their rest days. I think he track record also speaks in his favor which is why I am so torn about this.
I really don't like punishing people based on their intentions or motivations but I totally agree that what he did and the way he did it is in fact contrary to the best interests of the league.