Jeff Van Gundy

If we remember back to spring 2003 when the Cavaliers were conducting their previous most-recent coaching search, we remember the search came down to two primary finalists: Paul Silas and Jeff Van Gundy.
A lot of people had Van Gundy rated higher than Silas. After all, they said, Van Gundy's Knicks reached the NBA Finals in 1999, and the Knicks were a perennial playoff contender under Van Gundy.
Silas brought the disciplinarian aspect, they said, but Van Gundy was the master tactician.
It's hard to argue between the track records of the two coaches now. After two years with the Rockets, Van Gundy has taken them to two playoff appearances. Silas' Cavs narrowly missed the playoffs last year, and he was fired by the time they were eliminated on the last day of this season.
Van Gundy certainly looked like he would have been the better choice for the Cavs to hire two years ago. That is, until last week, when Van Gundy showed what a temperamental, yappy chihuahua he really is.
Van Gundy accused the NBA of a wide-ranging, referee-driven and Mark Cuban-funded conspiracy against Yao Ming and the Rockets.
As has been previously reported across the country, coaches blowing smoke about referees is nothing new. Phil Jackson, the high Zen priest of NBA coaches, has been guilty of accusing referees of bias or incompetence. But going Oliver Stone with conspiracy theories is an entirely different ballgame.
If your opponent is the Knicks or Lakers, one of the league's flagship franchises, your conspiracy accusations might hold a bit more water with the public at large. But Van Gundy accused the NBA of trying to grease the skids of Houston's playoff opponents, the Dallas Mavericks, into the second round. Despite being a perennial playoff team, the Mavs have never been to the NBA Finals, and have advanced to the Western Conference finals only twice in the history of their franchise. If you're keeping count, that's as many times as the Cavs have reached the conference finals.
But apparently, that wasn't enough to convince Van Gundy, who must think league commissioner David Stern is bound and determined to see Dirk Nowitzki hoist the NBA Finals MVP trophy, and send Yao back to China.
Stern came down hard on Van Gundy, levying a $100,000 fine along with a public tongue-lashing.
And you thought Silas' feud with Jeff McInnis was a sideshow? At least Silas was only 50 percent responsible for that.
This lack of dignity isn't even out of character for Van Gundy, who will always be remembered for pathetically latching onto Alonzo Mourning's leg during one of the fight-riddled playoff series between the Knicks and Heat in the 1990s.
Van Gundy is also known for crashing his car on more than one occasion because he was busy thinking about basketball instead of driving.
No matter how many screwball things Van Gundy does, there will always be a market for him because he knows basketball. But if a pilot is going to fly you cross-country, what is going to be more important to you? The fact that he knows the cockpit inside and out and has logged thousands upon thousands hours in the air, or the fact that he is a nut prone to letting his emotions get the better of him?