We’re all sick of the hype. Oh, it’s working -- LeBron is getting exactly what he wanted out of this. But we’re still sick of it.
The always frank Stan Van Gundy is with us, people. As told to the Orlando Sentinel.
Some other highlights from the interview:
It is a sign of the times. Unfortunately. It’s amazing that a guy as good as Kobe Bryant simply extended his contract with no real fanfare or anything else.
Yeah and Kevin Durant is more in the Kobe Bryant mode. You don’t hear Kobe Bryant and certainly not Kevin Durant talking about their brand. They don’t. I hear that from the other guys. I don’t hear those guys talking about their brand, they’re simply basketball players who want to be great players and win games. Not that those other guys aren’t great players and don’t want to win games. They do, but there’s also more to it. It’s not what I like. Other people, I guess, like it. I’m sure it will be a widely watched show tomorrow. It simply will not have me as an audience.
On Chris Bosh going to Miami:
But he also thinks they are instant contenders (although they need a few pieces to go around them, like Kobe and Gasol have).
I think right off the bat you know there’s another significant contender in the East so that there’s no question it makes things tougher and you’re gonna have to be better. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. You’re always sort of in the mode of, ‘What do we need to do to get better?’ It doesn’t really change, just adds another very significant competitor.
...I think a lot of people now will look at them as the team to beat in the East. You’re talking two of the top seven or eight offensive players in the NBA on the same team. I don’t think there’s any surprise. I think it’s what pretty much all of us thought would happen all along. I think these guys did a masterful job of creating suspense and carrying out a great charade. I don’t think there was any doubt