just said on ESPN 790 Stern's office released a statement that apparently said the JVG investigation is "Over!", and that the league was satisfied enough that JVG appologized for his statement, and the ESPN news update guy on 790 said that this leads to the question of whether or not "JVG made the whole thing up" This came out of nowhere!!
Guys, I suggest we stay tuned and watch ESPN SportsCenter, it will be on in about 25 minutes. I am sure they will talk about this at the beginning of the show or something as "breaking news". For now, tune in to ESPN 790, Charlie is definitely going to talk about it now.
http://www.nba.com/playoffs2005/jvg_050509.html So Van Gundy privately took it back? Never heard that... Guess the matter is closed...
http://www.nba.com/playoffs2005/jvg_050509.html NBA Statement Regarding Houston Rockets Coach Jeff Van Gundy NEW YORK, May 9 – NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik today issued the following statement in regard to Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy: “Over this past weekend, Coach Van Gundy publicly apologized for his comments last week suggesting bias in the league’s refereeing relating to Yao Ming. He has also confirmed directly to an NBA representative that, during the Houston/Dallas playoff series, he did not have any communication with a referee (working or non-working) other than, of course, during an ongoing game. In fact, his only conversations with league employees during the series were with league personnel in the normal course. In light of these circumstances, we now consider the matter to be closed.”
So, if Stern "knows" no such memo was sent out, why does he care who told JVG? Wouldn't he respond by saying that it wasn't a very good friend to JVG to tell him something that is completely false...
Oh boy, it must be all that petitions and boycott threats that changed Stern's mind I have to give props to the league for giving closure to this matter in such a graceful manner. Whew
This is just strange. All the drama from Stern over this matter and going on and on about how it will be an ongoing process after the Rockets are eliminated, and it's just dropped all of a sudden? No investigation, no more punishment (as suggested there would be regardless of the outcome) and only two days after the Rockets were knocked out of the playoffs. Great news for JVG and us Rocket fans, but something smells a little fishy to me.
JVG probably said he made it up but I think he'd rather take the fall for this one than to rat out a ref who's been a good friend of his for a long time.
I don't know if that is the case or not, but the 790 guy doing the news flash said that "I wonder if that means JVG took the claim back or confessed he made the whole thing up or what." So the guy was just questioning what's behind this "sudden" statement from the league's office to let JVG off the hook. I am stunned! But this makes me, frankly, wonder what was going on behind the scene. Did owners/coaches/public opinion (or a combination of all these things) play a role in getting Stern to back off his threats to JVG and end this whole thing once and for all? Or did he merely make a calculated decision to not leave this whole issue hanging over the head of the league and take the focus off the playoffs? Regardless, JVG better be on his knees and thanking his God that this was the outcome, that this was ALL the punishment amounted to. And with regards to Bill Walton, I lost all respect for him after what he said about JVG. That was CLASSLESS and DISRESPECTFUL and he should be reprimanded for that. What a f*king loser
He might or might not. If the story was indeed true, I don't mind him denying it at this point. He got his point crossed about Yao. Why would he risk being suspended by the league by keep fighting on this issue? What can he gain from now on? There is simply no benefit.
Stern was heavily criticized, JVG felt love and apologized, and we lost the series. It was a mistake and I wish JVG had saved those comments for something other than Yao's high screens. It has been said here, and was Saturday night, that when Yao comes out Tracy had to wait for Yao to get "set" and the NBA isn't really picky about that term. But remember it was T-Mac that made the comment about "Yao's pick was probably moving" when he hit the winning shot in game 2. I love T-Mac but I winced when I read that I winced, and when I heard JVG's comments I just wished he'd talked about moving screens and how the NBA doesn't usually care. The officiating of Yao is terrible, but this was the wrong forum and context for JVG to attack. Don't get me wrong, his frustration is something we all feel. But the timing of his remarks didn't work out.
Agree, I think that must be what happened in this case. I think JVG thought it over and decided that the best outcome would be to not rat out the official that tipped him off, and not have his team suffer next season because of his mistakes, and decided that he would just "swallow my pride" and lie to the league about him "making the whole thing up". It might make him look bad in the eyes of the public though, but he probably decided that that would be worth the cost. Props to the league though for letting this matter come to an end.
