If there’s one thing the Van Gundy brothers are going to do, they’ll call out poor officiating when they see it. Heck, they’re both former head coaches — it’s in their nature.
Jeff Van Gundy was laid off along with his broadcast partner Mark Jackson as part of a round of cost-cutting layoffs by ESPN last summer, but rumors persist that the NBA itself disliked Van Gundy being a public face of the league as a broadcaster, given his constant criticism of officiating and league rules. Commissioner Adam Silver denied that the league had a hand in Jackson or Jeff’s dismissal last year, but Jackson stated recently that he believes criticism is part of why he and Jeff are jobless.
But that hasn’t stopped Stan Van Gundy from not only speaking out on the way ESPN treated his brother but doubling down on criticizing the league’s officiating. There were multiple instances where Stan, who was on the call for Game 4 of the Minnesota Timberwolves-Dallas Mavericks series alongside Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller, took aim at the officiating.
During the third quarter of Tuesday’s game, Scott Foster came to the scorer’s table, announcing that play had been stopped for a technical foul, allowing the officials to see if there was a hostile act. It didn’t take long for Stan to say, “There’s nothing there.”
Miller wanted the refs to asses double technical fouls, move on and keep the game flowing.
Stan concurred but also added a quip of his own.
“We’re taking way too much time here,” he said. “Though I’ve heard from a lot of fans — they love watching the referees stand at the monitor and watch replays.”
After Miller barked about the replay taking too long, Stan downplayed the complexity of the situation, noting, “This isn’t that hard. We had the call a couple of minutes ago.”
“Well, that took a lot of time for much ado about nothing,” he added.
“We’re taking way too much time here. Though I’ve heard from a lot of fans- they LOVE watching referees stand at the monitor and watch replays…” – Stan Van Gundy
…
“Well that took a lot of time for much ado about nothing!” – SVG 🏀👮♂️🦓🎙️🤣 pic.twitter.com/4EIfUy8esp
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 29, 2024
He wasn’t done there.
“Now, [the Mavericks] need a five-point play that they have to tip, [Reggie Miller]- how do you do that? How do you get a five-point tip? We’d need multiple technical fouls…” – Stan Van Gundy after the refs put 0.2 seconds back on the clock at the end. 🏀👮♂️🦓😂 https://t.co/B4Q8Nv0sUl pic.twitter.com/5SlOkn1ITz
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 29, 2024
It remains to be seen if Stan criticizing the officiating will be much ado about nothing in the eyes of the league. They clearly don’t love their announcers making critical comments about officials or the state of officiating in general. That said, while the elder Van Gundy is an invaluable member of TNT’s No. 1 team, there’s a good chance that trio could be no more if Warner Bros. Discovery does indeed lose its NBA rights.
Only time will tell if Stan’s outspokenness becomes a foul he can’t clear. Regardless, his passion for the game is undeniable, and he is — and would be — a valuable asset to just about any broadcast booth.
