Adam Silver tells NBA team owners to take note of rest issue

MIAMI– NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sent a memo to the league’s board of governors Monday, calling the way teams are choosing to rest starters in some games “an extremely significant issue for our league” and pressing owners to be more involved in the decision-making process.

Silver also told the owners that the matter will be discussed at league meetings next month after nationally televised games on back-to-back Saturday nights were diluted by decisions to rest star players.

“Decisions of this kind … can affect fans and business partners, impact our reputation and damage the perception of our game,” Silver wrote in the memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press. “With so much at stake, it is simply not acceptable for governors to be uninvolved or to defer decision-making authority on these matters to others in their organizations.”

ESPN.com first reported the contents of the memo.