Stan Van Gundy is losing money to go along with the loss his team suffered on the court Sunday.
The Pistons coach was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Monday for criticizing officials during Detroit's 106-101 loss to the Cavaliers in Game 1 of their playoff series.
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“A couple of calls have upset our guys,” Van Gundy said during a sideline interview with ESPN's Lisa Salters. “They’ve got to understand, LeBron’s LeBron. They’re not going to call offensive fouls on him. He gets to do whatever he wants. They’ve got to understand that.”
Van Gundy later backtracked on his comments, stating during his postgame press conference the officiating “evened out., but by then the damage to his pockets had been done.
That said, while the NBA fining Van Gundy was predictable, it that doesn’t mean it was the right call.
In-game interviews with coaches rarely provide any insightful information. It’s usually the same, generic coachspeak that we get after the game, delivered with far less candor and personality. Nobody likes them. Not the media, not the fans, and definitely not the coaches themselves.
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So the one time someone gives an honest answer, the league slaps his hand for saying what pretty much anybody who watches a game will tell you.
Van Gundy made his comments in the middle of a game he was trying to win. He didn’t run over and grab a microphone and start whining about calls.
He simply answered a question honestly.
If the NBA doesn’t want that, what’s the point of pulling a coach away from his team during the game? The league may as well have coaches pitching products between quarters, because it's quite apparent they don’t want them to deviate from the league’s script.
Now that ads are coming to jerseys, isn't that the logical next step?