Stan Van Gundy is trying to coach his New Orleans Pelicans into the NBA play-in playoff tournament. The same tournament Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban isn’t a fan of.
Cuban recently voiced disagreement with the play-in, which will see the seventh through tenth seeds in each conference competes separately for the final two playoff spots. Van Gundy said Sunday that Cuban had actually pushed for the idea.
“I thought it was funny that Mark Cuban, who I absolutely love, pushed it,” said Van Gundy, per USA TODAY Sports. “Not only did he vote for it, but he pushed it. And now that they’re sitting where they are, they don’t like it.”
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The Mavericks are currently seventh in the West, putting them in the play-in zone. His criticism was that the play-in would exacerbate the stresses of the condensed schedule this season.
Cuban is a member of the NBA’s Board of Governor, which unanimously voted to approve the play-in tournament this season after experimenting with it during last year’s bubble playoffs. In 2021, the format will have the No. 7, No. 8, No. 9, and N0. 10 seeds play a series of games to determine the final two teams in each conference to make the postseason.
The Pelicans are currently two games out of the 10th seed. Should the Pelicans get into the play-in tournament, there is a good chance they would play the Mavericks.