Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy admits using word 'posse' in past
In the wake of the recent controversial comments made by New York Knicks president Phil Jackson — where he referred to LeBron James' business associates as his "posse" — Detroit Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy called himself out for his past use of the word, admitting that he had used it when referring to minorities.
"I'm going to be perfectly honest here, I've used that word before," Van Gundy said. "And when that all came out I had to ask myself, have I ever used that word before with a white player? And the answer is no. So, I think, look, you have to be aware of the language and you have to be aware a little bit of your own biases if you're going to overcome them and so I took that seriously."
Though unlike Jackson, who has yet to address his comments, Van Gundy publicly recognized that he made a mistake.
"And so I think at the time where you're going to call out other people on attitudes, I think you need to be willing to look in the mirror and call yourself out," he added. "I don't think I've used that term in a long, long, long time, but I think going back to my days as an assistant when I was younger I know in the past I have used that term. I'm just being honest and it's not right."
Van Gundy also made headlines last week after he unloaded on President-elect Donald Trump, calling him "brazenly racist and misogynistic."
“We have just thrown a good part of our population under the bus," Van Gundy said in reference to Trump winning the election. "And I have problems with thinking this is where we are as a country.”
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The Associated Press contributed to this story.