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The ESPN analyst and former NBA coach tore into Magic CEO Alex Martins, who on Monday fired Stan Van Gundy as coach after a tumultuous season in which he clashed publicly with superstar center Dwight Howard.
Martins complimented Stan Van Gundy while announcing the firing, calling him the best coach he had been around and saying Monday was "the most difficult day" of his career.
Even those positive comments angered Jeff Van Gundy, who dismissed them as having come from a man who "knows nothing about basketball."
"Listen, all you have done in your 25 years in the business is release press releases and run the business side. You don't know if a ball is blown up or stuffed," Van Gundy told ESPN Radio.
"He doesn't know one thing about basketball. So please, hold off your comments on my brother's expertise."
Most believed Van Gundy's dismissal was all but assured after he told reporters in early April that someone in the Magic front office informed him that Howard had asked for him to be fired.
Howard has disputed the accusation, while Martins said Monday that the three-time Defensive Player of the Year never made such a request.
"To try to make everyone believe that Dwight Howard didn't have a part in this is absurd," said Jeff Van Gundy.
"Just say, 'we fired this guy because we feel this is our best chance to keep Dwight Howard. Dwight Howard and I decided to fire him.' To do anything else is playing a game of semantics."
He also claimed Martins was "unprofessional" for waiting until his older brother left the Magic offices Monday before calling him on the phone to tell him he was being fired.
Stan Van Gundy went 259-135 in his five seasons with the Magic, never failing to reach the postseason.
Source: http://network.yardbarker.com/nba/article_external/jeff_van_gundy_slams_magic_ceo/10875929
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