Jeff Van Gundy was one of the most surprising names included in ESPN’s latest round of layoffs, and longtime media personality Chris “Mad Dog” Russo believes the decision may have been a result of outside pressure.
During the latest episode of his “Mad Dog’s Daily Bite” podcast, Russo said he “can’t fathom” that ESPN would independently make the decision to fire Van Gundy. If the decision was financially motivated, Russo believes ESPN would have fired both Van Gundy and fellow analyst Mark Jackson and replaced them both with someone cheaper. Russo has a different theory, which is that the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver wanted Van Gundy gone.
“That leads me to the conclusion that someone in the league office must’ve told ESPN, ‘I want Van Gundy out,'” Russo said, as transcribed by Sam Neumann of Awful Announcing. “We all know he’s biting. We all know he gets on the officials. We all know he doesn’t hold back with his NBA opinions. He tells you what he thinks, which is what a great broadcaster is supposed to do anyways.”
The NBA’s current media rights deals are set to expire after the 2024-25 season. Russo speculated that ESPN’s decision to part ways with Van Gundy may have been related to the ongoing media negotiations.
“So, if you’re asking me, little talk show host, who may not know a thing, this is just my opinion, Silver is the one who fired Van Gundy,” Russo added. “Silver told ESPN, ‘I want him out. You want to do the games in the next contract? I don’t want Van Gundy doing the games. I don’t want him knocking the league. I want a pom-pom guy in there.’”
Russo admitted that his opinion is biased, as he has known Van Gundy for more than 30 years and had him as a regular guest on his show. Russo also makes weekly appearances on “First Take” now, so ESPN might not be thrilled with him floating his conspiracy theory.
Van Gundy has never been afraid to bash officials, and we saw a recent example of that during this year’s playoffs. That is one of the reasons he became so popular. Russo also thinks it cost the analyst his job.
