Stan Van Gundy: ESPN has 'no balls whatsoever'

These are true facts.

1. Stan Van Gundy does not give a flip. No matter the circumstance, he does not give a flip.

2. NBA commissioner David Stern has a reputation for micromanaging not just his own business, but those of his strongest partners.

3. Van Gundy and Stern are not exactly best friends since The Notorious SVG likened the Commish to Gaddafi.

And so, when Stan Van Gundy went on Dan Le Batard's radio show in Miami to discuss why his deal to become an on-screen analyst for ESPN fell apart amid a rumor starting by Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel that Stern was involved, this is what happened. Via The Big Lead:

"No one at ESPN will tell us what happened. Certainly the NBA office isn't going to tell us what happened. One of the quotes from ESPN in there - we had discussions, but couldn't agree on a role ... as is usual, that's a bunch of BS from ESPN. [...]

What I find fascinating ... you have to give David Stern and the NBA a lot of credit ... ESPN pays the league, and then the league tells them what to do. It's more ESPN's problem. You gotta have no balls whatsoever to pay someone hundreds of millions of dollars and let them run your business."

Three points of order here:

1. Stan Van Gundy will never work for ESPN after this. So, uh, I hope Turner calls. (NBA TV will not be calling.)

2. Jeff Van Gundy and Le Batard work for ESPN. Awwwwkward.

3. Stan Van Gundy once left the Sacramento Kings at the altar in nasty fashion, faxing his signed deal with the Magic from a Sacramento Kinko's after leaving meetings with the Kings front office that were going to result in an offer. So SVG knows full well that it isn't a deal until it's a deal.