Now wait, didn't Van Gundy specifically mention "ref" last week as the one who called him? Now he Clintonises that he said "official" meaning instead a non ref.
Ref Association wants him fired.
NEW YORK -- Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy clarified comments about an official telling him Rockets center Yao Ming was being targeted by referees in the first round of the playoffs, and the NBA now considers the matter closed.
"When I referred to an NBA official, people inferred that I was talking about a working NBA referee, instead of an official with the league," Van Gundy said Monday in a statement released by the Rockets. "I was purposely vague because I had given my word that I would keep his name out of it."
The league fined Van Gundy $100,000 -- the largest assessed against a coach -- after saying that an official who was not working the playoffs told him that Yao was being targeted following complaints by Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Houston's first-round opponent.
Van Gundy subsequently apologized publicly for the comments.
"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," NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik said in a statement Monday. "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."
The National Basketball Referees Association, which represents NBA officials, however, disagrees the matter is resolved and wants Van Gundy fired according to a statement reported by USA Today.
"Van Gundy flat out lied to the public," the statement said. "And in the process he called into question the reputations of all NBA game officials and the integrity of the game itself. ... The matter will truly be closed only when Van Gundy is fired."
Lamell Morris, NBRA spokesman and lead negotiator, addressed the latest developments in the Van Gundy case on Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio on Monday morning.
"There is a tremendous amount of confusion, but the only thing that cannot be confused are the words that Jeff Van Gundy uttered," Morris said on the radio show. "And to now kind of spin it to say that he wasn't actually talking about an official, but for the last week, the integrity of the officials who officiate the games during the playoffs and during the regular season has been called into question.
"Fans have been enraged over the possibility of game fixing, and now he wants to come out and say a week later, after he's on a bit of the hot seat, if you will, that he actually was not talking about a referree, I think it's a bit of a stretch and I think it's unfair. And at the least he should be suspended, at the least. But I think to now say that he wasn't talking about an actual referee is a very egregious lie."
Van Gundy started the saga by telling three reporters at the team hotel in Dallas that a referee not working the playoffs called him after the Rockets went up 2-0 and warned that Yao was mentioned in an online evaluation from supervisor of officials Ronnie Nunn.
Van Gundy also told the reporters that referees "were looking at Yao harder because of Mark's complaints" to the league office, referring to Cuban.
"I did not want the issue to continue, so rather than clarifying my original comments, I chose to let the matter die since I was wrong to bring the official into it to start with," Van Gundy said. "I have been honest during this process, loyal to those involved and have apologized for my comments. I look forward to putting this behind me."
Stern, in Phoenix to present Steve Nash with the MVP trophy Monday night, said he considered the case finished.
"He apologized. He accepted his $100,000 fine," Stern said, "and he acknowledged that his previous statement that he got a call from an NBA referee was, shall I say, in error, was inaccurate. As far as I'm concerned, that makes it over."
In a SportsCenter interview before the Phoenix-Dallas game, Stern explained why, in a surprise, he stopped pressing for Van Gundy to name his source.
"Everybody [with every team] talks to somebody." Stern said. "I got phone calls today about officiating. That pressing [for a name ] is not necessary because as commissioner I encourage … calls from coaches, GMs, owners. This was not a question about pressing."
