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Stern Warning to Jeff Van GundyRead the article this discussion is about
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» dancooper - NBA publicity I don’t know if it is true or not, but would it make any difference to your argument in favor of Stern’s posture of aggressive authority, if Van Gundy’s first accusation was true?Personally, I would not be surprised if the refs were collaborating and singling out a player or two. It is common knowledge that they do this on a regular basis during the ebb and flow of games. Why assume they would not stoop to a pre-game agenda along the same lines? I am not suggesting Stern was wrong. He was perhaps a bit excessive with the fine, but your reasons for his over-sensitivity this season are well documented in your article. However, I would not suggest that Van Gundy was wrong, either. His position was just bad for the publicity of the league. Dan Cooper -- posted by dancooper » NYCScribe - Re: NBA publicity I'm in agreement with you, Dan. I think there's at least a 50% chance that Van Gundy initially told the truth. And if a referee did tell him about a plan to scrutinize Yao Ming, he'd have every right to be pretty upset about it. If Jeff had named names and Stern verified it, then the fine money should be returned to VG because all he did was tell the truth. But by making such an accusation without being a stoolie and giving up his source, Van Gundy gave Stern little choice but to come down hard on him. Coaches like Phil Jackson and Pat Riley were smarter whenever they accused a ref of not knowing his a@@ from his elblow. They said enough to warrant fines, but never went so far as to claim they were given first hand knowledge by an official of a conspiracy. You can't claim a conspiracy without expecting that the response will be for those in charge to launch an investigation, and the only way for Stern to do that was to coerce Van Gundy into giving him a name. To make the mess go away, Van Gundy had no choice but to pay the fine and to take back his accusation (sort of), even if it was true.-- posted by NYCScribe
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