The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Detroit Pistons 106-101 in Game 1 this past Sunday night, but not without a little added extra drama. During an in-game interview with ESPN’s Lisa Salters after the first quarter ended, Pistons’ head coach Stan Van Gundy called out the referees for the way they officiate LeBron James:
“A couple calls upset our guys”, Van Gundy said. “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”.
These comments, as announced Monday, led to a $25,000 fine from league officials. The money is planning to be used towards unspecified charities, leading Van Gundy to be rather accepting about the fine:
#Pistons SVG on $25K fine, which goes to charity: “I don’t know which one I just supported, but I’m happy to do it.”
— Rod Beard (@detnewsRodBeard) April 19, 2016
While many hoped LeBron would respond to Stan’s in-game comments in a similar fashion, LeBron is LeBron, just like Van Gundy noted. He isn’t known for acting out or responding to these types of scenarios. Rather, James stays focused on the task at hand, as he reiterated in a recent interview.
Following from Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
“Stan has gotten the better of me in a playoff series before in his Orlando days,” James said after practice Tuesday. “But it’s not about me versus Stan. It’s about his teams versus the teams that I’ve been on and I’m not having an individual matchup with Stan or an individual matchup with Stanley Johnson or any other Stan they can possess.”
“It’s about getting my guys ready. That’s all that matters.”
Lebron, seeking his sixth straight Finals appearance, is locked into his own mode at the moment. No off-the-court drama will faze him, as he remains determined to defeat the Pistons in this Round 1 series and advance onwards to the next awaiting challenge for Cleveland. The Cavaliers will host the Pistons in Game 2 on Wednesday, April 20th in Cleveland.
