Stan Van Gundy Rips NBA Fans Who Voted For Trump, Doesn't Want To Be Around Them
By Will Burchfield
In case you hadn't heard, Donald Trump won the Presidential election on Tuesday night.
And in case you were wondering, Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy isn't exactly pleased.
"We just elected an openly brazen, misogynist leader," Van Gundy told reporters. "We have just thrown a good part of our population under the bus."
The Pistons are in Phoenix at the moment ahead of Wednesday night's game versus the Suns. Van Gundy said, "I'm having a hard time being with people. I'm going to walk into this arena tonight and realize that most of these people voted for him.
"Like, sh*t, I don't have any respect for that."
Van Gundy's latest remarks are a stark departure from his stance prior to the election. In late September, he poked fun at Trump's debate tactics before clarifying he had nothing against people who supported the colorful Republican.
"There's a lot of his supporters here and I'm not denigrating the people who support him," Van Gundy said. "I think I have an understanding of why the people support him.
"There's a lot of people in this area and throughout here and Ohio and the Rust Belt states who have been left behind on the recovery from the recession and they've lost jobs and everything else and so they want something new. They don't want to hear the same old stuff because it hasn't worked for them, so I'm not in any way putting them down."
Several high-profile NBA players are known for voicing strong political opinions, participating in marches and wearing T-shirts with political messages.
The Washington Post hypothesized activism stemmed from small arenas that bring players closer to fans, a lax commissioner, and the large number of African American players and fans.
On the other hand, the NFL has faced a backlash for players' protests against the national anthem, which includes threats of boycotts, and a anti-NFL Twitter hashtag. The protests are sometimes blamed for this season's markedly lower ratings.
"Sports used to not be a stage for this, and now it is, so I'm turning it off," James Olson of Birmingham, Mich., told CBS Detroit about the earlier protests.
