[Stardust]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5846687

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, who faces former employer Miami on Wednesday night, called Phil Jackson "inappropriate" and "ignorant" for hypothesizing that the Heat soon could change coaches if the ultra-talented team doesn't shake its sluggish start.

Jackson drew attention -- and some ire -- after discussing the fallout to the Heat's 8-6 start under coach Erik Spoelstra during an interview Tuesday with ESPN 1000 in Chicago.

Jackson went on to say, "The scenario that sits kind of behind the scene, is that eventually these guys that were recruited -- [Chris] Bosh and [LeBron] James -- by [team president] Pat Riley and Micky Arison, the owner, are going to come in and say, 'We feel you [Riley] can do a better job coaching the team. We came here on the hopes that this would work,' and whatever, I don't know," Jackson said. "That's kind of my take on it, is that eventually if things don't straighten out here soon, it could be the Van Gundy thing all over again."

Jackson's direct analogy to the events that precipitated Van Gundy's departure in Miami during the 2005-06 season particularly irritated the Magic's coach.

"Phil has no idea what the Van Gundy situation was because, even though he coaches in our league, he certainly had no insight or knowledge of that," Van Gundy said Wednesday. "So an analogy he'd make to my situation would be totally useless because he doesn't have any clue what the situation was in that case."