Skip to content

Van Gundy retracts accusation of LeBron getting preferential treatment

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

It's not unlike Stan Van Gundy to give a good quote.

The boisterous Detroit Pistons head coach has frequently run afoul of the league office for his outspoken witticisms against referees, but he wanted to retract a stinging accusation uttered in the heat of battle on Sunday.

"A couple calls have upset our guys," Van Gundy told ESPN during an in-game interview. "They've got to understand, LeBron's LeBron. They're not going to call offensive fouls on him. He gets to do whatever he wants. They've got to understand that."

After the game, Van Gundy was careful to walk back his claim. He actually thought that the refereeing was fair.

"Look, I thought it evened out really well," Van Gundy said, according to ESPN's Nick Friedell.

"But early on I thought there were two pretty obvious offensive fouls down there on him. But it's two calls in an entire game after that. Look, the refereeing had nothing to do with tonight. They did a good job. It went both ways. I thought they did a really good job. It was decided by the players on the floor as it should be."

James ended the game with three fouls in 41 minutes.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox