Stern offers stern words after Van Gundy’s charges

DALLAS – Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy was determined to make the most out of being fined $100,000.

He began his comments to reporters Monday with a line about his wife being upset and later mentioned possibly having to sleep on the porch.

He said he liked the sound of his penalty being “double worst” the previous biggest.

He even fired off several zingers about getting punished by the same guy who gave him his first job (league vice president Stu Jackson, who in 1989 hired Van Gundy as an assistant with the New York Knicks).

Then NBA commissioner David Stern started talking, and no one was laughing.

On Tuesday, Stern brought the focus back to what caused Monday’s fine – Van Gundy’s accusation that officials are targeting his Rockets player, Yao Ming, this postseason – and said he considers this an ongoing case that will be handled by the league’s head of security.

Referring to the coach as a “perpetrator,” Stern said the investigation will continue once the Rockets are out of the playoffs. Houston lost 103-100 to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night in Game 5 of their first-round series, putting them one loss from elimination.

Stern said he expects Van Gundy to cooperate, which means naming the referee who was his source. Stern cited a league bylaw that requires Van Gundy to do so.

Van Gundy started the saga by telling three reporters on Sunday night that a referee not working the playoffs called him after the Rockets went up 2-0 and warned that Yao was mentioned in an online evaluation from supervisor of officials Ronnie Nunn.

Van Gundy also told the reporters that referees “were looking at Yao harder because of Mark’s complaints” to the league office, referring to Mavs owner Mark Cuban.

Van Gundy got a kick out of doubling the previous largest fine, a $50,000 hit on Pat Riley in 2003 and Phil Jackson in 2004.