There Were Many Layers To TNT’s Stan Van Gundy Criticizing NBA Officials (2024)

1. Late in Tuesday’s Minnesota Timberwolves–Dallas Mavericks game, TNT analyst Stan Van Gundy took direct aim at the officials on two occasions.

First, Van Gundy lamented how long the refs take when there’s a review. Then Van Gundy mocked the refs for making sure to put 0.2 seconds on the clock at the end of regulation when Minnesota was up by five points.

Whenever Van Gundy talks about the refs in any manner these days, it hits different than when any other analyst talks about the refs because of what happened to his brother.

In a move that still to this day makes absolutely no sense, ESPN broke up the Mike Breen-Mark Jackson-Jeff Van Gundy crew after last season.

The main reason ESPN pulled the plug on Jeff Van Gundy is reportedly because the league complained to the network about Van Gundy knocking the refs and criticizing the league over various issues. ESPN and the NBA will deny this, but that’s likely what happened.

ESPN embarrassed itself even further by saying it axed Van Gundy, who had multiple years left on his contract, because the network feared he would leave the booth to coach again in the NBA.

So what did ESPN do? They hired Doc Rivers to replace Van Gundy. And what happened? Rivers left to go coach. And then ESPN elevated JJ Redick to replace Rivers. And now there’s a chance Redick is going to leave ESPN to coach the Lakers.

So when Stan Van Gundy takes issue with officials, it’s hard not to think of how his brother used to do the same and it cost Jeff his job. Stan has never been shy about voicing his opinions, especially when it comes to referees, but every time he takes the refs to task, it does feel like a little bit of an homage to Jeff.

Referees impact NBA games way too much. Every person watching at home knows this. The NBA, however, does not want its announcers acknowledging this. And the networks airing the NBA would prefer the announcers not point out the officials’ shortcomings because they want to keep the league happy. So anytime a broadcaster does point out that the refs have screwed up, we are grateful for their honesty and courage.

The other layer here is that it seems extremely likely that next season will be the last one in which TNT broadcasts NBA games. I’ve already written that it will be fascinating to see how far Charles Barkley goes next season if it is indeed the final one for TNT. While Stan Van Gundy isn’t nearly the loose cannon Barkley is, he would also be someone to keep an eye on during a lame-duck season.

2. I don’t know if anyone else felt this way watching it live, but I thought this alley-oop pass from Luka Dončić last night might have been the best I’ve ever seen.

3. This is a fascinating and depressing story about the popular Twitter account of Dov Kleiman. In yesterday’s Traina Thoughts, I pointed out how “Kleiman” messed up the story of Raiders owner Mark Davis getting someone pregnant.

The fallout from the erroneous report is that Barstool Sports says the Kleiman account was sold a few months ago and now it’s being used for engagement farming in order to generate clicks to make money off of Twitter’s awful feature where it pays “content creators.

4. Props to this White Sox fan paying tribute to George Costanza during Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jays.

5. A couple of more must-see Bill Walton tributes for you to check out.

This one from the Portland TrailBlazers.

And a touching and emotional story from ESPN’s Mike Breen.

6. The latestSI Media With Jimmy Trainapodcast features an interview with TNT's lead NBA play-by-play voice, Kevin Harlan.

Harlan shares his thoughts on the possibility of Turner Sports losing the NBA and what that means for his future.

He also talks about calling the Mavericks-Timberwolves Western Conference finals, the transition from being in a two-person booth to a three-person booth for the postseason and why a three-person one is more difficult for the NBA than college basketball.

Other topics covered with Harlan include his viral playoff moment with Denver's Jamal Murray, how he evaluates his radio call of Mecole Hardman's Super Bowl–winning touchdown against the Niners, whether any executives have ever tried to change his style, the notes his gets about his NFL broadcasts from CBS and much more.

Following Harlan, Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY joins me for our weekly "Traina Thoughts" segment. This week's topics include my betting disaster regarding Caitlin Clark, Peaco*ck's new series on the 1990 New York Yankees, the scam that is the secondary-ticket market, the use of the word "legend" and another ridiculous restaurant experience I had last week.

You can also listen to theSI Media With Jimmy Trainabelow or onAppleandSpotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina onSports Illustrated‘sYouTube channel.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Someone on Twitter this week asked for our favorite live TV moment. Back when I wrote Hot Clicks, I used to post this clip every few months because it was so damn good, so I’m trotting it out again since it’s been awhile.

Be sure tocatch up on past editions of Traina Thoughtsand check out theSports Illustrated Media Podcasthosted by Jimmy Traina onApple,SpotifyorGoogle. You can also follow Jimmy onTwitter and Instagram.