Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy, left, claimed Mavs owner Mark Cuban influenced playoff officiating.
Posted on 05/03/2005 6:42:02 AM PDT by freepatriot32
DALLAS (May 2) - The NBA fined Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy $100,000 - the largest amount ever for a coach - on Monday, a day after he accused officials of targeting center Yao Ming this postseason and said Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is to blame.
While Van Gundy laughed off the penalty and Yao offered to pick up half the tab, the matter jumped to another, far more serious level. Commissioner David Stern called the fine "an intermediary step," adding that an investigation will continue once the Rockets finish their playoff run.
He said further punishment is possible, even implying that Van Gundy could face a lifetime ban.
"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."
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."
Van Gundy got himself into trouble by telling three reporters at the team hotel in Dallas on Sunday night that a referee not working the playoffs called him after the Rockets went up 2-0 and warned that Yao was mentioned in an online evaluation from supervisor of officials Ronnie Nunn.
Van Gundy added that because Cuban "has been hard on" the league and officials, "he's gotten the benefit."
"I didn't think that really worked in the NBA, but in this case it has," Van Gundy said.
He stood by his complaints Monday and said he's made many of them privately to the league all season.
"I said what I said. I believe what I believe and I've seen what I've seen. They've got to do what they think is right," Van Gundy said. "I would watch all of (Yao's) 20 fouls with anyone. And I would have no problems making my case that he's not refereed appropriately. I stand by that."
For the most part, though, Van Gundy cracked jokes about the fallout, saying things like his wife might make him sleep on the porch. He also laughed about the fine coming from league vice president Stu Jackson, who in 1989 was coach of the Knicks and hired Van Gundy as an assistant.
"Stu brought me into the NBA so he giveth, and now he taketh away," Van Gundy said.
He teased the team's PR director, who was standing next to him, for allowing him to speak to reporters on a travel day - "Gee, no more non-mandatory media days for me," he said - and especially got a kick out of his fine being "double worst" the previous largest, a $50,000 hit on Pat Riley in 2003 and Phil Jackson in 2004.
"If that's the worst thing that's happened in the NBA from a coaching perspective, so be it," he said.
As for protecting his source, Van Gundy practically rolled his eyes at his refusal to give up his friend during his conversation with league security.
"I felt like I was in Watergate or something," he said.
When told about reporters who are facing 18 months in jail for protecting sources, Van Gundy laughed and said, "My guy would have to be on his own. I'd cut him loose."
Van Gundy clarified that his complaints aren't with the officials, but with the way officials are asked to call games - such as having certain points of emphasis.
"Believe me, I've been blessed to make enough money that if this goes to good causes, that's a good thing," said Van Gundy, in the second year of an $18 million, four-year contract.
However, he may not have to pay the whole thing. Yao offered to split the fee because "coach was talking about me."
"I feel I need to do it that way," Yao said.
Cuban, who has been fined more than $1 million since buying the team five years ago, found little irony in someone getting fined for comments involving him and his pet target, the way officials do their job.
"It's nice to see someone else buying the coffee and danish for the NBA," he said.
When first learning about Van Gundy's comments, Cuban said in an e-mail that the accusations were "crazy" and "an insult to officials." He also noted that Dallas center Erick Dampier has picked up quick fouls in every game in this series.
"They don't officiate individual players differently," Cuban wrote.
Cuban said the Mavs sent the league a list of plays they thought could've been called moving screens on Yao and backup Dikembe Mutombo. He said the league responded that "nine were actually moving screens and should have been called but were not."
"So if anything, he has it completely backward," Cuban said.
Yao fouled out of Game 1 in 20 minutes. He had four fouls in Game 2, when he made 13 of 14 shots and scored 33 points, then had five fouls in each of the last two games.
Dampier fouled out of Game 4 in 18 minutes. He had five fouls in 19 minutes of Game 3.
05/03/05 00:14 EDT
Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy, left, claimed Mavs owner Mark Cuban influenced playoff officiating.
I don't get it.
It was an intermediary fine. The second part was the officials giving the game to the Mavericks last night.
if he can get banned for life for saying what is obvious to everybody but latrell sprewell can choke his coach half to death and only get suspended for a few games something is seriously wrong with the nba and people will haveto decide if they want to tune into any games next season
I don't know about the officiating in the first four games of the series (before Van Gundy made his comments), but the officiating in last night's Mavs/Rockets game was horrendous, with Houston getting the raw end of the deal numerous times in the 4th qtr.
You base this on what?
Still, Van Gundy has always been a whiner.
Yao, who is awesome, lost Houston that game with his 3 missed free throws in a row.
Without question. Van Gundy's (undoubtedly true) allegations were quite embarrassing to the league, so it's not surprising the latter is going to make damn sure the Rockets don't advance. (And I have absolutely no dog in this fight).
Van Gundy is getting fines $100K for stating the obvious. The NBA likes to pretend that the games are called fairly, but that is simply not possible. The officials have to use huge amounts of discretion, so how they call the game is often the deciding factor.
Given the amount of money involved, I find it amazing that there has not been a public scandal involving the bribing of officials. An individual game can be worth hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues. How is it possible that officials have not been bribed to make sure things go the right way?
I love watching this motley collection of moral reprobates known as the NBA self-destruct.
I'm shocked - SHOCKED - that the NBA is having its referees influence games in favor of certain teams. This never happened with Michael Jordan.
sarcasm off
Wow. Someone cares about the NBA. I quit watching years ago.
Officiating is inconsistent with good players getting good calls and good teams getting good calls (I am told that they 'earn' those calls, whatever that means).
It is worse in college and I am slowing giving up on watching college basketball too.
I guess the real problem is that I am about 50 and they just don't play like they used to (I say as I hitch up my pants).
The ball bounces both ways ladies....
He pretty much used an "anonymous source" to weigh serious charges against another teams owner.
And now he is refusing to cooperate in the investigation.
Stern is PISSED.
Dad is that you ? :-)
Got another cliche?
I'll take a stab at this one...
Alan Henderson mugs Yao Ming, pushing, grabing, hooking him as he moved across the lane. Henderson mugs Yoa continuously for over 8 seconds. Yoa makes one move to defend his position and is instantly called for his 4th foul and out of the game he goes. Please note the similarity to game 4 when the same thing happened between Yao and Nowitzki. Every time Yao would begin to dominate the game, he would be tagged with a ridiculous foul that would send him to the bench.
Nowitzki has 5 fouls. He fouls Yao twice as Yoa gets a rebound. The officials wait until Howard fouls Yao and call the foul on Howard.
Finley is clearly standing out of bounds, both feet, when he slaps the ball away from John Barry. The end result of the play is a foul on Barry. Don't even attempt to argue this one, the replay shows it too clearly. Of course three officials are not enough to see this obvious situation. One official tells Van Gundy that Finley was clearly in bounds and to shut up. HMM...
With 17 seconds left, the rockets trap Finley in the corner, the perfect set up for a steal. The official calls a foul without any contact being made. Again, the replay makes it irrefutable.
These are the most egregious examples, but thanks to the power of Tivo it is possible to create a list as long as your arm for each of the games.
I was a Maverick's fan for years and hated it when they were getting the short end of the officiating. I admired Mark Cuban's willingness to pay large fines to highlight the bias of NBA officiating. Unfortunately, once he accomplished the task he continued on and became just an obnoxious jerk.
Cuban better enjoy it while he can. The officials will get him past Houston, but he'll be on the other side of the coin when they go up against Phoenix. Phoenix is the darling of the NBA and will get all the help they need to get to the conference finals.
That said, Mark Cuban is hated by the league and I hardly think the league wants his team in the finals. When Tracy McGrady admits Yao set a moving screen to free him for the last shot in game 2, what does anyone expect the refs to do but look for Yao setting moving screens.
Van Gundy has a long way to go to catch up in the total amount of fines Mark Cuban has had to pay over the years.
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