By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Jeff Van Gundy is part of the NBA lore, among other things, for his participation in the notorious brawl in the 90s between the Knicks and Miami, when he was an assistant coach in New York.
While it wasn’t the same, Van Gundy once more was in the spotlight for keeping the ball and refusing to give it to Nikola Jokic with 34 seconds left in the game of the Los Angeles Clippers‘ first-round playoff series opener against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena.
While Jokic tried to get it, Van Gundy delayed him, presumably trying to delay a quick inbound pass after a turnover by Kawhi Leonard, something that the players are not allowed to do and are punished for delay of the game.
“It seems like it’s part of basketball nowadays, even though I think it’s not supposed to happen,” Jokic said postgame. “The NBA wants a quicker game. That was the emphasis when they came to us before the season. They said I can’t even take time tying my shoes anymore. But seems like the coaches can do it.”
Nikola Jokic and Jeff Van Gundy fighting for the ball is hilarious!
pic.twitter.com/TfjXoTWxfb— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) April 20, 2025
Denver interim head coach David Adelman joked that he’ll have his assistants use the same tactics if there is no penalty.
“I mean, my guys have got to step it up. If we’re allowed to just grab the ball and stop plays from happening and it’s not a delay of game, what have we been doing all year?” Adelman told reporters. “I was an assistant, so what was I doing all year? So if that is OK to do, and I guess that’s OK, then I guess we should start doing it. I’ve never seen that before, to be honest.”
“It’s pretty embarrassing for Jok,” Nuggets Christian Braun joked about the fact that Jokic had trouble getting the ball from 63-year-old Van Gundy. “He’s in the weight room now.”