Van Gundy
Posted by: Bradley McDonald
Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy was fined $100,000 after speaking out against officiating earlier this week. Van Gundy said that officials were targeting his center, Yao Ming, because Mavericks owner Mark Cuban complained to the league. Van Gundy alleges that he received this information from a referee not working the playoffs.
It appears to me that commissioner David Stern overreacted on this incident. Coaches have always tried to gain advantages with referees by speaking out publicly and a lot of them have been fined, but never for $100,000. Stern was definitely not happy, though, apparently because Van Gundy won't reveal his source.
From ESPN.com:
Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy was fined $100,000 after speaking out against officiating earlier this week. Van Gundy said that officials were targeting his center, Yao Ming, because Mavericks owner Mark Cuban complained to the league. Van Gundy alleges that he received this information from a referee not working the playoffs.
It appears to me that commissioner David Stern overreacted on this incident. Coaches have always tried to gain advantages with referees by speaking out publicly and a lot of them have been fined, but never for $100,000. Stern was definitely not happy, though, apparently because Van Gundy won't reveal his source.
From ESPN.com:
"If he's going to say things like that, he's not going to continue in this league," Stern said. "If the attitude reflected in those comments continues to be public, he's going to have a big problem with me as long as I'm commissioner."Well, if you like a soap opera, there ya go! Van Gundy must've stole Stern's girlfriend in college or something; it looks like a personal dislike to me.
After the Rockets' 103-100 loss to the Mavericks in Game 5 Monday night, Van Gundy called Stern's statement "interesting." But the coach stood by what he had said.
"I didn't see anything wrong with what I said," Van Gundy explained. "But certainly, obviously, for a statement like that to come out, he obviously differs. … That's all right."
Stern said the league is both furious at what Van Gundy said and that he refuses to divulge the official he claims told him that referees "were looking at Yao harder because of Mark's complaints" to the league office.
"This is the first case I can remember when an allegation has been made and the perpetrator hasn't cooperated," Stern said. "At this time of year, there usually is a craziness in the land that has to do with referees as coaches jockey for position. This one, in our view, set a new low for that. That's why the fine is what it was and that's why the investigation is continuing."
