Page 2
Nothing in the NBA this season has been this unbelievable.
Not even Tracy McGrady's 13 points in 35 seconds.
But McGrady's coach has suddenly and stunningly turned into a folk hero in Houston. Yes, the same Jeff Van Gundy who has been mostly viewed by Rockets fans as the dour, sour outsider from New York who would never make them forget about their beloved Rudy T and the two NBA titles his Rockets won.
In fact, Van Gundy has gained runaway fan poll support in NBA precincts across the land. Did he win a championship? No, he became the people's choice after blowing a 2-0 series lead by losing two straight playoff games at home to in-state rival Dallas.
The only rings Van Gundy has are the ones under his eyes.
So did he rescue a baby from a burning building or donate half his $5 million salary to cancer research?
No, Van Gundy told reporters that an NBA referee is a longtime friend of his.
That's heroic?
Van Gundy said he and this ref – who isn't working the playoffs – are so tight that the ref called Van Gundy to warn him of what Van Gundy described as almost a league-controlled conspiracy against 7-foot-6 Rockets center Yao Ming.
This ref, said Van Gundy, had read an in-house, online directive sent from Ronnie Nunn, the NBA's director of officials, to the crew officiating the Houston-Dallas series, basically ordering that crew to call certain fouls more closely on Yao.
Van Gundy indicated to reporters that his ref friend implied this order came down as a direct result of all the lobbying Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had done with the league office.
That's a villainous accusation from a head coach.
Fittingly, NBA commissioner David Stern fined Van Gundy $100,000 – twice the old record. Stern vowed that an investigation will begin as soon as the playoffs end for the Rockets – perhaps after Saturday night's Game 7 in Dallas. And Stern warned that if Van Gundy doesn't reveal the identity of his ref friend, he could lose his job.
| If Van Gundy does reveal the ref's identity, the ref will be fired and every ref in the league may consider Van Gundy a stool pigeon. The bias against him -- or even the appearance of bias -- could cause Stern as many problems as it does Van Gundy. Those complications alone could make it difficult for Van Gundy to keep his job. |
Yet shockingly, most fans in and out of Houston reacted by vilifying ... Stern!
Yao even offered to pay half of Van Gundy's fine. Rockets owner Les Alexander offered to pay all of it. Several fan sites set up pay-the-fine funds.
Jeff Van Folk Hero has suddenly become so popular in Houston that Houston Chronicle columnist Richard Justice marveled in print: "He's a native New Yorker, but at the moment, he couldn't be more of a Texan if he showed up with cream gravy on his tie and a Dan Jenkins novel under his arm."
The Chronicle, a fine old newspaper, lost all objectivity in an editorial that said Stern "should call a time out to the histrionics and let the spotlight return to the basketball court where it belongs. Unlike a lot of the behavioral problems that have marred the NBA's image in recent years, expressing an honest opinion is neither a crime nor a career-ending infraction, and shouldn't be treated as one."
