WHO IS PAT RILEY FOOLING?

Pat Riley (left) and Stan Van Gundy.

Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy had worked before as coach of Pat Riley’s Miami Heat, but that does not mean that he is a big fan of the former showtime mentor of the Los Angeles Lakers. He lambasted his former boss for eleven years for calling a press conference and saying things that Van Gundy thinks are very inconsistent, according to Magic.com.

“I thought it was pretty typical. I was kind of amused by it, especially reading down through the interview. 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.

“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. 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.

“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. 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?”