Numerous coaches went on record, although Van Gundy seemed to speak for them all, with reporters tweeting his quotes all over the Internet.
Still, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich came in a close second, quoted often as well: “All of us in the business know how it works,” he said prior to Friday’s game in which the Spurs beat the Lakers. “We all feel badly when it happens to a colleague… circumstances often dictate what happens to certain coaches that have nothing to do with their record.”
Rick Carlisle, who coaches the Dallas Mavericks and is head of the NBA Coaches Association, agreed with Van Gundy: “I’m embarrassed for our league that something like this could happen. It’s just bizarre… Blatt’s a great guy and he did a great job there.”
Perhaps the quote that made the most sense came from coach Scott Skiles: “Back in my day, you use to have to at least lose games before you got fired.”