ESPN: Van Gundy Takes Shot At Jason Kidd

[box]Jason Kidd has officially completed his NBA two-game suspension for his DUI charge last season and will coach the Nets from here on out.  His first action with the team will be on Sunday in Orlando at 6pm.

It seems that the suspension did not sit well with Jeff Van Gundy last night as he was doing color commentary for the ESPN broadcast.  He decided it was his chance to call  out the NBA for handing out two-game suspensions for offenses like DUIs and domestic abuse charges.

[quote_box]”The deterrent system is not working,” Van Gundy said.[/quote_box]

The conversation seemed to be a direct shot at Kidd and his suspension as Van Gundy unloaded about how less serious crimes get a longer suspensions and not ones like DUI and violence against women.

He actually said that the NBA should consider suspending a player/coach for an entire season for such offenses.

The comment was ludicrous as his play-by-play partner Mike Breen explained to Van Gundy that the guidelines for those punishments were negotiated in the most recent collective bargaining agreement.

Van Gundy retorted Breen by saying “Forget all that.”

While I do understand that DUI and domestic violence offenses should be issues that are dealt with harshly, no one was hurt by this incident so I don’t understand the time and place for his comments on national television during a very entertaining game.

There is a time and place for everything and last night was not the night for Van Gundy to jump on his soap box.

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