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NBA finished with Van Gundy probe
National Basketball Association (NBA) officials have closed their investigation of Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy, who had said referees had been instructed to pay close attention to Rockets center Yao Ming.
Van Gundy said Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had complained that the Chinese center was not being whistled for enough fouls and that a referee had called him to say a directive about Yao was sent to league referees. NBA commissioner David Stern fined Van Gundy a record 100,000 dollars for casting doubt on the integrity of NBA officiating. Van Gundy apologized for his remarks last weekend and NBA deputy commissioner said Van Gundy told a league representative that he had no such communication with a referee. "He has also confirmed directly to an NBA representative that during the Houston-Dallas playoff series he did not have any communication with a referee (working or non-working) other than of course during an ongoing game. "In fact, his only conversations with league employees during the series were with league personnel in the normal course. "In light of these circumstances, we now consider the matter to be closed." In a statement Monday, Van Gundy said that "The contact I spoke of that day was with league personnel. When I referred to an NBA official, people inferred I was talking about a working NBA referee instead of an official with the league. I was purposely vague because I had given my word I would keep his name out of it." Van Gundy could be simply trying to protect the identity of his source to avoid what has become an embarrassing situation, because his words at the time clearly indicated a referee. Van Gundy said before game three of the series: "I got a call from another official in the NBA, who is not in the playoffs and who I've known forever and they told me they were looking at Yao harder because of Mark's complaints."
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