The San Antonio Spurs have been fined $250,000 by the NBA for their decision to not send Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green to play in Thursday's game against the Miami Heat.

The NBA contends that the Spurs' actions were in violation of a league policy, reviewed with the NBA Board of Governors in April 2010, against resting players in a manner contrary to the best interests of the NBA.

"The result here is dictated by the totality of the facts in this case," said David Stern. "The Spurs decided to make four of their top players unavailable for an early-season game that was the team's only regular-season visit to Miami. The team also did this without informing the Heat, the media, or the league office in a timely way. Under these circumstances, I have concluded that the Spurs did a disservice to the league and our fans."

A source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that there would be no separate fines or suspensions to Gregg Popovich.

NBA commissioner David Stern released a statement against the decision by Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs to send home Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green instead of traveling with the team to play the Miami Heat on Thursday.

"I apologize to all NBA fans," said Stern. "This was an unacceptable decision by the San Antonio Spurs and substantial sanctions will be forthcoming."

A source tells Adrian Wojnarowski that the Spurs received no word from the NBA about possibile penalties prior to Stern's statement.

The Lakers received a $25,000 fine in April of 1990 for sitting Magic Johnson and James Worthy in a late regular season game.

Jerry Buss apologized to the fans of the Blazers, as the game was held in Portland.

The San Antonio Spurs have sent four of their top-five leading scorers back home instead of playing the Miami Heat on Thursday in a nationally televised game.

Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green did not travel with the team after Wednesday night’s win in Orlando.

The Spurs were already without Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Jackson.

Gregg Popovich will have nine active players.

“We’re getting tired,” Popovich said. “We’ve had a six-day trip and a 10-day trip. Usually you don’t have that in one month.”

Sean Marks is general manager of the D-League's Austin Toros, which he considers an initial step in his career as a front office executive.

“Being GM of my own team is a dream, for sure,” Marks said. “I know I have a long way to go, but I have a great stepping stone now with the opportunity I have had to learn from Pop, Danny (Ferry), Dennis (former assistant GM Dennis Lindsey).

“The way R.C. handles it is amazing: He says, ‘Here, have fun with it; it’s your team, run it. He doesn’t micromanage, and until he gets sick of me asking question after question, I’ll keep picking his brain.”

The Spurs have been the launching pad for current NBA general managers such as Ferry, Dell Demps, Sam Presti, Rob Hennigan and Kevin Pritchard.

The Atlanta Hawks’ Al Horford and the San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan have been named Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Nov. 19, through Sunday, Nov. 25.  

Horford led the Hawks to a 4-0 week, averaging 16.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists. He recorded a career-high 10 assists on Nov. 21 as Atlanta topped the Washington Wizards 101-100. Horford’s 26-point, 13-rebound double-double in a 101-91 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Nov. 23 helped the Hawks to improve their road record to 4-2, tops in the conference.

Duncan helped the Spurs to a 3-1 week with averages of 22.0 points, 12.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.3 blocks. He posted three consecutive point-rebound double-doubles in games against the Los Angeles Clippers, Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers. Duncan’s lone game last week without a double-double still showed a balanced stat line of 26 points, six assists, five rebounds and three blocks as the Spurs bested the Raptors 111-106 on Nov. 25 – a game in which Duncan recorded his 2,500^th career block. 

The San Antonio Spurs have signed James Anderson.

Anderson was a first round pick by the Spurs in 2010, but became a free agent after the team declined their option on his third-year contract.

Anderson signed with the Hawks in September and was waived before the start of the season.

Kawhi Leonard will be out 10-14 days with quadriceps tendinitis in his left knee.

Leonard's diagnosis was confirmed with an MRI on Friday.

Leonard will not travel with the Spurs on their six-game road trip. Tendenitis

The San Antonio Spurs have assigned guard Cory Joseph to the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League.

Joseph, who has appeared in one game for the Spurs this season, had three stints with the Toros in 2011-12. In 14 games in Austin, he averaged 13.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.29 steals in 32.9 minutes, helping lead the team to the 2012 NBA D-League championship.

The NBA has suspended DeMarcus Cousins for two games without pay after a Friday confrontation with Sean Elliot, who is an announcer for the Spurs.

Elliot criticized Cousins for talking trash toward Tim Duncan during the game.

Cousins sought out Elliot after he was informed of the comments and had a confrontation.

Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers were eliminated in the Western Conference Semifinals last season by the San Antonio Spurs.

Griffin, like many around the NBA, believes that the way the Spurs have built around Tim Duncan over the past 15 seasons is worth examining.

"They're a model for how you're supposed to run an organization," said Griffin.