#stan van gundy

[sucka99]

[bballinspiration]

Stan Van Gundy breaks down Nick Nurse’s defensive schemes

[the-football-chick]

via IG:sbnation

[thepeachbasket]

It Is Bullshit

Until recently, I had always felt that sports were in some way a reflection of ourselves. Because they are often male-dominated, and because they cater to money, and specifically to those with the most of it, sports leagues have always trended conservative. So: a distorted reflection to be sure, but one that might provide meaningful clarity. The NFL’s decision to suspend Ray Rice for only two games after he knocked his wife unconscious, for example, is an indictment of how we as a society respond to abusive relationships.

The NBA, for the past few years at least, has reflected back to me a society I want to see myself in. Players have used their platforms to speak out against the police murder of unarmed black men. The first openly gay professional athlete played in the NBA. Most importantly, Adam Silver pulled the NBA All-Star Game out of Charlotte because of their highly discriminatory HB2 Bill. While other leagues were making token gestures toward supporting just causes, the NBA, an industry unto itself, was making an economic statement. Money talks. It was a big deal.

At the time, the decision felt in line with the larger trajectory of the United States. Outrage over police shootings was getting amplified, Bernie Sanders’s rhetoric was reaching a fever pitch, the White House was decked out in rainbow colors. The NBA felt like a microcosm of a society slowly bending towards justice. This was months ago, when we were all younger.

Since the election, it has been easy to feel like if the NBA were to make another progressive statement with their wallets it would in defiance of the laws around it, a final bulwark in the storm. I went so far as to claim, in an article I wrote a couple weeks after the election, that “the gray truth is sports are not a reflection of ourselves.” On top of being melodramatic, it was hasty.

Since the election, some of the most revered coaches in the NBA have not held back their criticism. Gregg Popovich, considered by many to be the best NBA coach of all time, immediately spoke up, ripping “the disgusting tenor and tone and all the comments that have been xenophobic, homophobic, racist, misogynistic, and I live in that country where half the country ignored all that to elect someone. That’s the scariest part of the whole thing to me.” He ended this particular diatribe (he’s had a few and they are all gems) with the beautifully succinct: “We are Rome.”

Warriors coach Steve Kerr has also not held back, most recently by speaking out against the wildly racist immigration ban: “I’m completely against what’s happening. I think it’s shocking and a horrible idea” (this holds extra weight because Kerr’s father was killed by the Islamic Jihad Organization while working in Beirut).

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy pulled no punches either: “we’re getting back to the days of putting the Japanese in relocation camps and Hitler registering the Jews.”

Probably the most cathartic response came from Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry, who called the ban “Bullshit” multiple times, and refused to amend his response for reporters because “That’s how I feel about it.”

One of the interesting parts of this type of dissent is how unequipped the current administration is to respond to it with their usual insults. The current GOP indulges in dangerous delusions about masculinity. To them, liberals are whiny and soft, while they are tough and rugged frontiersmen. Because NBA athletes and coaches are elite at something traditionally masculine, that gross and lazy binary doesn’t apply. It’s easier to, say, make fun of Chuck Schumer for crying than to perform the wild linguistic backflips required to call Popovich a loser (he is better at coaching than anyone in the White House will ever be at anything worthwhile).

So perhaps the NBA is protected by its bubble; the very things that constrain its progressive tendencies are the things that protect it from rebuke. I don’t know. What I do know is it feels so good to see public figures say what we are all feeling with a directness that our elected officials for the most part have been shamefully unwilling to. I know too that while the majority of my twitter feed continues to necessarily transition from basketball to politics, it feels good when the two intersect, and strengthens my resolve.

– Frank Basket

[nbyay]

Stan Van Gundy: "This travel ban is starting to get to really scary stuff. Now we’re judging people by their religion and we’re trying to keep Muslims out

(CNN’s) Fareed Zakaria had a great thing … none of those seven nations has been responsible for an American death, but we’re barring everybody from those seven. It’s just playing to people’s fears and prejudices.

We’re getting back to the days of putting the Japanese in relocation camps, of Hitler registering the Jews — that’s where we’re heading. It’s just fear-mongering and playing to a certain base of people that have some built-in prejudices that aren’t fair. There’s no reasonable reason to do it. If they haven’t been responsible for a single American fatality, how is doing it making us safer?

That would be the question. And the answer is that it’s not. But to some people, it sounds good and if you have a prejudice against Muslims in general, it sounds really good to you.

This stuff is real and it’s scary and I think everybody should speak up. This isn’t about a person in office or anything else — it’s about policy that’s antithetical to what we’re supposed to be about here in America. I would love our players to speak out about that."

(Detroit News)

[bballinspiration]

Stan Van Gundy says LeBron James could be ‘best that’s ever played’

[famousborntoday]

Stan Van Gundy : Born August 26, 1959

Stanley Alan Van Gundy is an American former basketball coach who is a television commentator for NBA on TNT and College Basketball on CBS. Prior to TNT, he was...

Link: Stan Van Gundy

[onejamtart]

Stan Van Gundy Spittin' With Q + D | Knuckleheads Podcast 

Peace, JW