The NBA announced on Monday evening that Detroit Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy has been fined $25,000 for his criticism of the referees in regards to LeBron James, ESPN’s Marc Stein reports.
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NBA announces a $25.000 fine for Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy after his critical in-game comments of the way LeBron James is officiated
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) April 19, 2016
On a pair of plays in the first quarter, LeBron James drove inside the paint and seemed to dislodge his defenders. He wasn’t called for any fouls on those while the Pistons were. Van Gundy expressed his anger in an interview after the first quarter.
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Stan Van Gundy already taking shots during game 1! #CavsNation #Cavs #Pistons #NBA pic.twitter.com/3hZfoiHYpG
— Cavs Nation TV (@CavsNationTV) April 17, 2016
After the game, Van Gundy went back and retracted his statement, saying that the game eventually evened out. It was probably an attempt to get on the NBA’s good side and avoid a fine, but the league doesn’t take lightly to any criticism of officials, so this was likely going to happen.
Nick Friedell of ESPN reports on Van Gundy’s postgame comments.
“Look, I thought it evened out really well,” Van Gundy said. “But early on, I thought there were two pretty obvious offensive fouls down there on him. But it’s two calls in an entire game after that. Look, the refereeing had nothing to do with tonight. They did a good job. It went both ways. I thought they did a really good job. It was decided by the players on the floor, as it should be.”
