NBA Commissioner David Stern fires back at the outspoken Orlando Magic’s Stan Van Gundy
Stan Van Gundy is outspoken and he certainly does not mind ruffling a few feathers while doing so. The verbose Orlando Magic’s coach may have gone a step to far this time after his comments regarding the National Basketball Association’s commissioner David
Stern.
A fortnight after enduring a blatant verbal assault from the Gundy, the NBA commissioner David Stern finally responded and by the looks of it, he is not planning a personal dialogue with Van Gundy for his critical remarks. Rather in an apparently deliberate
move, he intends to speak to Orlando’s team executives about the untoward outburst.
Van Gundy’s latest episode of verbal attacks came in the light of his star centre Dwight Howard’s one-game suspension earlier this week. In a game against the Eastern Conference rivals, the Chicago Bulls, Howard picked up his 16th technical foul
of the season which eventually dangled him for the Monday’s embarrassing loss against the Portland Trailblazers.
Van Gundy was not pleased at all and he turned the nozzle of his guns towards David Stern and said, "This is the system David Stern and his minions like. So that's the system you have. I certainly can't have an opinion because David Stern, like a lot of
leaders we've seen in this world lately, don't really tolerate other people's opinion or free speech or anything. So I'm not really allowed to have an opinion.”
The Magic’s coach supported his argument by saying, that on all the 593 occasions when Howards has been charged, the opposite number had not been scrutinized even a single time.
The NBA commissioner displayed an act of serenity on Thursday, as he decided not to add further ingredients to it. Stern is engaging in a private discussion with the owners of the franchise, as he showed dismay with Van Gundy’s statement and expects this
not to happen in the future.
The Orlando coach was fined $35000 in January by Stern for making critical statements and the commissioner implied that he is not going to take a restraining action for his recent remarks. Stern stated that once he calms down and realizes what he said, he
will not talk about it anymore.
"Because he tried to make it so personal, I'm not going to do anything about it this time. I see somebody whose team isn't performing, whose star player was suspended, who seems to be fraying," said Stern.
Van Gundy was the head coach of the Miami Heat from 2003-2005, as he resigned in the mid-season turning the job over to Pat Riley and headed to the Orlando Magic. He guided the team with 52 wins in his first season. In 2010, he was also named as the coach
of the Eastern Conference All-Star team.
The Magic’s coach shares substantial experience in the NBA with some of the best teams comprised of the league’s best players. He tends to make strong statements due to his aggressive approach. Whatever the case may be, at the moment the veteran coach is
determined to win the title for Orlando Magic backing up the Most Valuable Player contender, Dwight Howard.
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