Van Gundy Fires Back at Riley
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By John Denton
September 11, 2010
ORLANDO -- While the rivalry between the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat might lay dormant at times during the offseason, the venom between the two heated, hated sides clearly never bubbles too far below the surface.
And old rivals Otis Smith, Stan Van Gundy and Heat president Pat Riley have made sure that the vitriol between the two teams continues to flow all summer long.
Irked at some of the comments from Smith, Orlando’s President of Basketball Operations, and Van Gundy, the Magic’s head coach, following Miami’s free-agent signings of LeBron James and Chris Bosh in July, Riley went on the offensive on Friday. He was highly critical of Smith, Van Gundy and TNT analyst Charles Barkley for becoming the ``moral conscious or moral authority’’ of players in the NBA.
Van Gundy, who worked in Miami with Riley for 12 seasons from 1995-2006, fired back on Saturday at the many inconsistencies in Riley’s behavior and criticisms through the years.
``I thought it was pretty typical. I was kind of amused by it, especially reading down through the interview,’’ Van Gundy said. ``He goes into Charles Barkley, me and Otis and then says he doesn’t worry about what people say. Wait, you called the press conference, you went off and everybody and you don’t care what people say? Clearly, he cares a great deal about what people say. I was laughing when I saw that.’’
Van Gundy wasn’t laughing when he read that Riley ripped him and Smith for questioning why James and Bosh would rather team together with Dwyane Wade in Miami rather than trying to win a championship on their own. Riley said the comment was ``an absolutely stupid remark,’’ but several former great players such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Barkley reaffirmed that they would have never jumped ship on their teams simply as a way to chase a championship.
``Pat’s thing calling Otis’ remarks stupid, I don’t think they were any different than what several ex-players who played when Otis did had to say. They looked at the game differently back then and backed up what we said,’’ Van Gundy said. ``The position LeBron and Bosh took isn’t necessarily wrong, but it’s different from what (Michael) Jordan, Magic (Johnson) and Larry Bird would have done. Otis was a part of that generation – he wasn’t at that level – but that’s the way those players looked at (James and Bosh going to Miami). Those (former players) wouldn’t have tried to team up. So what Otis said wasn’t a stupid remark. Unless of course you have a different opinion than Pat, then apparently it’s stupid.’’
The part of Riley’s remarks that especially infuriated Van Gundy was when he accused the Magic’s coach of passing moral judgments on other players. Van Gundy admitted that he was ``out of line’’ for saying that Bosh was ``following Wade around like a lapdog’’ in early July. But he was bothered by Riley’s accusations because he saw firsthand how Riley personally attacked Van Gundy’s brother, former New York coach Jeff Van Gundy, during the 1990s and the Knicks-Heat playoffs series.
``Whether it’s appropriate to do it or not (to pass judgments) is another issue, but if it’s OK for Pat to do it he shouldn’t be judging other people,’’ Van Gundy said. ``Pat was upset that he and his guys have gotten some criticism and he’s sensitive and the funniest part of the whole thing is him saying he doesn’t worry about what people say. My question is then, `Why did you go and call your own press conference?’
``Pat getting onto people for making moral judgments made me laugh,’’ Van Gundy continued. ``I was with Pat when we had all of those Knicks series and he had no problem making moral judgments on my brother. What I read into that was that I guess Pat is the only one allowed to make those moral judgments and the rest of us can’t do that. I guess we didn’t realize that Pat’s the only allowed to do that.’’
Van Gundy said the attention the Heat, and James in particular, called to themselves during the free-agency courting period, opened them up to criticism. James was almost universally ripped in early July after setting up a nationally televised broadcast on ESPN to announce that he was ``taking his talents to South Beach.’’
Miami also caught flack for throwing what closely resembled a championship ceremony to introduce James, Wade and Bosh to the Heat fanbase. The addition of James, a two-time MVP, and Bosh, an all-star power forward, to Wade made the Heat a favorite to win the championship, but it also made them a target around the NBA, Van Gundy said.
``Competitive people, which definitely encompasses professional athletes, are always looking for challenges,’’ Van Gundy said. ``It’s not just Miami, though. The talent that Miami has assembled has heightened everybody’s sense of challenge. But it’s also Boston, Atlanta, Milwaukee and Chicago. But I’d say everybody around the league -- and in the East in particular -- has a heightened sense of the challenge and knows that they are going to have to rise to it if they want to achieve their goals. I think it’s been an extra sense of motivation for our guys, but it’s not just Miami. Boston handed it to us last year. We have to rise to that challenge and the other teams getting better. But guys like that, they want to play in those types of games and they want to be challenged. I’m sure with what Miami has done, it’s made our guys work a little harder.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. Submit questions to John’s weekly Question-and-Answer pieces by writing to John at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
September 11, 2010
ORLANDO -- While the rivalry between the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat might lay dormant at times during the offseason, the venom between the two heated, hated sides clearly never bubbles too far below the surface.
And old rivals Otis Smith, Stan Van Gundy and Heat president Pat Riley have made sure that the vitriol between the two teams continues to flow all summer long.
Irked at some of the comments from Smith, Orlando’s President of Basketball Operations, and Van Gundy, the Magic’s head coach, following Miami’s free-agent signings of LeBron James and Chris Bosh in July, Riley went on the offensive on Friday. He was highly critical of Smith, Van Gundy and TNT analyst Charles Barkley for becoming the ``moral conscious or moral authority’’ of players in the NBA.
Van Gundy, who worked in Miami with Riley for 12 seasons from 1995-2006, fired back on Saturday at the many inconsistencies in Riley’s behavior and criticisms through the years.
``I thought it was pretty typical. I was kind of amused by it, especially reading down through the interview,’’ Van Gundy said. ``He goes into Charles Barkley, me and Otis and then says he doesn’t worry about what people say. Wait, you called the press conference, you went off and everybody and you don’t care what people say? Clearly, he cares a great deal about what people say. I was laughing when I saw that.’’
Van Gundy wasn’t laughing when he read that Riley ripped him and Smith for questioning why James and Bosh would rather team together with Dwyane Wade in Miami rather than trying to win a championship on their own. Riley said the comment was ``an absolutely stupid remark,’’ but several former great players such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Barkley reaffirmed that they would have never jumped ship on their teams simply as a way to chase a championship.
``Pat’s thing calling Otis’ remarks stupid, I don’t think they were any different than what several ex-players who played when Otis did had to say. They looked at the game differently back then and backed up what we said,’’ Van Gundy said. ``The position LeBron and Bosh took isn’t necessarily wrong, but it’s different from what (Michael) Jordan, Magic (Johnson) and Larry Bird would have done. Otis was a part of that generation – he wasn’t at that level – but that’s the way those players looked at (James and Bosh going to Miami). Those (former players) wouldn’t have tried to team up. So what Otis said wasn’t a stupid remark. Unless of course you have a different opinion than Pat, then apparently it’s stupid.’’
The part of Riley’s remarks that especially infuriated Van Gundy was when he accused the Magic’s coach of passing moral judgments on other players. Van Gundy admitted that he was ``out of line’’ for saying that Bosh was ``following Wade around like a lapdog’’ in early July. But he was bothered by Riley’s accusations because he saw firsthand how Riley personally attacked Van Gundy’s brother, former New York coach Jeff Van Gundy, during the 1990s and the Knicks-Heat playoffs series.
``Whether it’s appropriate to do it or not (to pass judgments) is another issue, but if it’s OK for Pat to do it he shouldn’t be judging other people,’’ Van Gundy said. ``Pat was upset that he and his guys have gotten some criticism and he’s sensitive and the funniest part of the whole thing is him saying he doesn’t worry about what people say. My question is then, `Why did you go and call your own press conference?’
``Pat getting onto people for making moral judgments made me laugh,’’ Van Gundy continued. ``I was with Pat when we had all of those Knicks series and he had no problem making moral judgments on my brother. What I read into that was that I guess Pat is the only one allowed to make those moral judgments and the rest of us can’t do that. I guess we didn’t realize that Pat’s the only allowed to do that.’’
Van Gundy said the attention the Heat, and James in particular, called to themselves during the free-agency courting period, opened them up to criticism. James was almost universally ripped in early July after setting up a nationally televised broadcast on ESPN to announce that he was ``taking his talents to South Beach.’’
Miami also caught flack for throwing what closely resembled a championship ceremony to introduce James, Wade and Bosh to the Heat fanbase. The addition of James, a two-time MVP, and Bosh, an all-star power forward, to Wade made the Heat a favorite to win the championship, but it also made them a target around the NBA, Van Gundy said.
``Competitive people, which definitely encompasses professional athletes, are always looking for challenges,’’ Van Gundy said. ``It’s not just Miami, though. The talent that Miami has assembled has heightened everybody’s sense of challenge. But it’s also Boston, Atlanta, Milwaukee and Chicago. But I’d say everybody around the league -- and in the East in particular -- has a heightened sense of the challenge and knows that they are going to have to rise to it if they want to achieve their goals. I think it’s been an extra sense of motivation for our guys, but it’s not just Miami. Boston handed it to us last year. We have to rise to that challenge and the other teams getting better. But guys like that, they want to play in those types of games and they want to be challenged. I’m sure with what Miami has done, it’s made our guys work a little harder.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. Submit questions to John’s weekly Question-and-Answer pieces by writing to John at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
