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"Nights off" is what Spurs announcer Sean Elliot likes to call them. Put that way, it sounds so benign, so humane. San Antonio, an aging team bracing itself for a deep playoff run, is doing what any rational enterprise would do: Conserve resources in an effort to realize a long-term goal. The Spurs, in their infinite wisdom, continue to innovate. The sport marches on as we all look on in awe. Gregg Popovich has struck again.

Except these "nights off"—shrewd as they may be for the Spurs' self-interest—put the organization in an awkward position. When the Spurs don't show up, it tampers with the basic law of sports: That both teams will play hard and produce a meaningful outcome. The outcome will be entered into the record, which will in turn paint a complete picture of the regular season. That picture will be used to determine which teams will make the playoffs and who they will play against. Oh, and as collateral damage, it fucks over ticket-buyers and cable subscribers who want to get the best product for their money.

The question is, should any of this bother Gregg Popovich? On the surface, he's certainly not violating any rule or neglecting his responsibilities as head coach of the Spurs. He's trying to win. The Spurs will win enough to make the playoffs and maybe even push late for a top seed. If Pop were to rest players too much, the Spurs would be compromised and the entire strategy would backfire. Compare what he's doing to tanking, that other great scourge upon the NBA's competitive landscape: Under the current system, a bad team is (in theory) rewarded for losing games with a higher draft position. The Spurs must constantly balance the need to rest with the need to win a certain amount.

What Popovich is doing is almost certainly helping his team. What suffers, though, is every other team. There's a case to be made that Popovich is trolling other contenders, or the NBA, or the networks that end up broadcasting meaningless Spurs games. Some have even suggested that he's trolling no one in particular, that he just can't help himself. One could argue that the Spurs are playing possum, hiding themselves in plain sight until it's time to crank it up for the playoffs. None of this quite gets at the problem, though, which is that the Spurs destabilize the entire NBA. They become a randomizing force, letting their personal schedule dictate the way the season plays out.