OFF BEAT: Fan turns up heat on coach, lack of play spurs lawsuit

A decision by a basketball coach to rest his star players has a litigious fan crying foul.

Miami Heat fan Larry McGuinness has filed a class action suit against the San Antonio Spurs after the team’s coach, Gregg Popovich, decided to not play several star players in a game on Nov. 29, 2012, in Miami.

The suit, filed in Miami-Dade County, Fla., on Monday, contends that the Spurs “intentionally and surreptitiously” sent aging stalwarts Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili home to San Antonio, Texas, to rest rather than play in the game in Miami.

While Mr. Popovich defended the decision as a gambit to preserve his team from the grind of playing four road games in five days, Mr. McGuinness, a lawyer, said the move violated Florida’s deceptive and fair trade practices law.

Noting that fans pay premium prices for tickets for games against visiting teams with star players, Mr. McGuinness told ESPN the situation was akin to ordering a porterhouse in a fancy restaurant and instead being served cube steak.