After the first quarter of the Pistons’ Game 1 loss to the Cavaliers on Sunday, Stan Van Gundy did the standard in-game sideline interview with ESPN’s Lisa Salters (video above), where he implied that LeBron James doesn’t get called for offensive fouls. After the game, he walked his comments back, saying the officiating had “nothing to do with tonight.”
That didn’t stop him from getting fined, as the NBA announced Monday afternoon:Detroit Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy has been fined $25,000 for public criticism of officiating, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
Van Gundy made his comments in a live television interview during the Pistons’ 106-101 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 17 at Quicken Loans Arena.Van Gundy’s fine isn’t surprising—the league has to be consistent as to who gets fined and who doesn’t. But his comments were pretty harmless in the grand scheme of things, and it calls into question the value of in-game interviews, which have seemed pointless for a while. Van Gundy, Gregg Popovich and other coaches have been vocal in the past about not wanting to do them, and if they’re going to get fined for saying anything that isn’t a coach-speak cliche, that’s not going to change that.
