ABC NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy will have a clear, obvious conflict of interest during the network’s coverage of the 2009 NBA Finals.
Van Gundy says he wants the Orlando Magic — coached by his brother, Stan — to win the NBA Finals. With that in mind, Van Gundy went to higher-ups and asked if he should be taken off ABC’s NBA Finals coverage. “I certainly don’t want to compromise anything,” Van Gundy recalled telling his producer, in an interview with Newsday. In a separate USA Today piece, Van Gundy said he would have “no problems if they wanted to take me off games and put me in the studio or take me off altogether.”
ABC evidently has no problem with Van Gundy’s lack of objectivity, as the team of Van Gundy, Mark Jackson and Mike Breen will call the NBA Finals for the third consecutive year.
Van Gundy says he will try to be “as objective as possible,” and will even make concessions such as “[skipping] pregame talks with the Lakers.”
This is not the first time a broadcaster has called games involving a relative. FOX NASCAR analyst Darrell Waltrip called his brother Michael Waltrip‘s win at the ’01 Daytona 500, Bret Boone was in the booth when his brother Aaron hit a walk-off, series-clinching home run in the ’03 ALCS, and ESPN/ABC analyst Bill Walton has called NBA Playoff games involving his son, Luke.
Van Gundy acknowledges that he was “uncomfortable with Bill Walton when he was doing Luke Walton’s games.”
Perhaps Van Gundy’s nerves may create more of a problem than his objectivity. In a Los Angeles Times piece earlier last month, Van Gundy said that he would be “in the fetal position underneath the desk,” if he had to call an NBA Finals involving the Magic. “I hope it comes to that, but you probably won’t see me. I will be cowering, courtside.”
