(CN) - An NBA fan dropped his lawsuit against the San Antonio Spurs over their decision to not play their best players in a November game against the Miami Heat.
When the Spurs squared off against the Heat in Miami on Nov. 29, 2012, three of the Spurs' starters were nowhere to be found. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich later admitted that he had secretly sent Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Danny Green and Tony Parker home to San Antonio.
NBA Commissioner David Stern fined the club $250,000 for not having given advance notice of the decision to the league or fans attending that game. Popovich at the time said he was "disappointed" in the fine.
Miami-based fan Larry McGuiness filed suit on behalf of a class of 16,000 ticketholders in January. He claimed that the maneuver constituted a violation of Florida's deceptive and fair trade practices law, or FDUTPA,
The Spurs moved to dismiss in February, noting that other courts have "flatly rejected" nearly identical claims.
"These cases irrefutably establish that a ticket to a game entitles the purchase/ticketholder only to a specific seat at a specific event," according to the motion written by James Sammataro and Brian Frontino of Stroock & Strook & Lavan in Miami.
The Spurs also argued that McGuinness had failed to allege any recoverable loss under the FDUTPA. Florida courts "do not accept subjective feelings of disappointment as a compensable damage under FDUTPA," according to the motion.
McGuinness voluntarily withdrew his claims on March 20, according to an article from Law360.
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