Stan Van Gundy: There is Crying in Basketball

Fans, media, and opposing NBA players have all had nearly 24 hours to laugh at the Miami Heat for crying following their demoralizing loss to Chicago yesterday. According to Stan Van Gundy, though, this sort of thing happens behind closed doors more often than you would imagine (and says Miami deserves all the criticism they’ve received so far.) From the Orlando Sentinel: “NBA players crying over a regular season game? Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said it’s not as uncommon as you may think. ‘We all have, but it’s not something I would comment on and tell you who or when or anything else,’ Van Gundy said Monday. ‘But yeah, I think we’ve all had that. Usually playoff-type situations … Probably the only time I’ve seen it are in the games that sort of end your year in the playoffs. But yeah, I’ve seen it.’ Hey, whether you want to admit it or not, we’ve all cried over a sad movie or a bad breakup or a job rejection or anything else painful of the sort. It’s just difficult for many to picture NBA players — some of the most competitive, strong, masculine human beings in the world — shedding tears in front of other men over a game. But don’t we want our athletes to care? If fans are putting their money and emotions into this game, isn’t it best if the players in the games do the same? ‘I don’t care whether a guy cries or not,’ Van Gundy said. ‘I don’t see what difference it makes. But I don’t have to fill three hours of a sports talk show. Those guys need something to talk about. Mike and Mike in the morning, I don’t know, how long are they on? Three or four hours? I guess there aren’t enough games to just talk about the games, so you gotta figure out who was crying in the locker room. I’m just glad that’s not my job – trying to figure out who was crying.'”