Stan Van Gundy (Photo : Jonathan Daniel | Getty Images Sport)
Stan Van Gundy defends player Reggie Jackson and possibly wants the NBA to clamp down on heckling.
The players and SVG might have no involvement, but it's the same franchise involved in "The Malice at the Palace." The team whose hecklers threw a drink at Ron Artest (now Metta World Peace) compelling him to rush to the stands and attack.
In the Pistons game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Reggie Jackson was heckled by fans of his former team. He was booed the entire game after their not-so-amicable break up. This was his first trip to OKC since he was traded.
According to Deadspin (who also has video of the incident), Jackson hurled expletives at the fan who had recorded the exchange on his cellphone.
Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy took took a stand for his player on MLive. Jackson was eventually fined $ 25,000 for his response and SVG does not question the fine, but he still had some choice words of his own.
You've got to be a person with very little life to try and catch somebody with your cell phone out," Van Gundy said in reference to the heckler. "That's a punk move but that's the way it is."
He continued: "So Reggie got a $25,000 fine. That's fine. I understand why the league has to do that; I'm not criticizing the league. But the people who would say that Reggie's the bad guy in that incident, and the whole thing -- really? Any of us, you've got people yelling at you from 10 feet away, you're not going to say anything back to that? You're that good? No, I don't think so."
Van Gundy only notes that Jackson is human and they can sometimes be labeled as targets, citing Jahlil Okafor's recent incident when he punched a fan in the streets of Boston.
Should the NBA take action with heckling? Definitely not because of SVG's comments, but in the MLive article, one comment from 'Tahoe' presumably a parent, said: "I took some kids to a game and some of the fans were so bad I almost left. Some of these fans are an embarrassment to the human race and should not be allowed to yell the things they do."
The NBA could become a hostile environment and may not be a wholesome place for younger fans. This should be a legitimate concern for the league.
