SVG fires back at Dan Gilbert
Stan Van Gundy has some advice for Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert: Worry about your own team.
After Gilbert said in a radio interview that the Pistons should remove "Detroit" from their name because they play in Auburn Hills, Mich., Van Gundy fired back at the Detroit native.
"Dan Gilbert has some selfish interests for saying what he said," Van Gundy said on 105.1 FM in Detroit. "I think we know what those are. Finally I think he has enough to worry about with his own team than worrying about us."
Van Gundy's remarks about "selfish interests" may have to do with Gilbert having invested millions in downtown Detroit. Gilbert also has spoken to Pistons owner Tom Gores "four or five times at the owners meetings," where he's brought up the topic about a downtown move, according to The Detroit News.
"If you're gonna convince someone like that, and I've said it to him, long term for business reasons, that's not a viable place that you're gonna have a long-term successful, profitable venture," Gilbert said. "People want entertainment, a whole night of it, a whole experience."
Van Gundy's remarks came after Gilbert spoke earlier Friday.
"Detroit doesn't have an NBA team, because they're somewhere 30 miles north of here, right? They're in Auburn Hills, right?" Gilbert said on "Mojo In The Morning" on 95.5 FM.
"Now that Sacramento is building an arena downtown, they're the only one not in an urban core. The only one. It's really not good business. It's nothing against Auburn Hills, Oakland County or L. Brooks Patterson. An arena in the middle of a field is not an ideal thing."
The Pistons are the only professional team that doesn't play in downtown Detroit. After moving to Pontiac in the 1970s, the team has called Auburn Hills home since 1988.
"Tom Gores has been involved in the city of Detroit, not just the surrounding area," Van Gundy said. "There are teams all over the place that carry the name of the city but represent an entire area. Where we play isn't that much relevance."
