Jeff Van Gundy Thinks the NBA Should Suspend Players a Full Season for Domestic Violence Convictions

NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy suggests players should be suspended for a full season for domestic violence and sexual assault convictions.

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Complex Original

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Jeff Van Gundy was a part of the ESPN broadcasting team that called the Knicks/Rockets preseason game in Houston on Tuesday night, and of course, the Derrick Rose rape trial came up at one point during the telecast. Van Gundy refused to get into the specifics of the case because he said that he doesn’t know enough about it to comment on it. But he did take a moment to take a strong stand against those NBA players who have been found guilty of crimes like domestic violence and sexual assault.

After talking about how he attended a conference about domestic violence and sexual assault earlier in the day, Van Gundy said he believes the NBA should seriously consider suspending players found guilty of "any felony committed against a woman" for an entire season. He used Darren Collison of the Kings, who was recently suspended for eight games following a domestic violence conviction, as an example and called for NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to come down harder on players convicted of heinous crimes.

"I love everything that Adam Silver has done," Van Gundy said. "My one suggestion going forward is, any felony committed against a woman should be a full-season suspension. And on the second one, you’re gone...Because the one thing I learned today, it’s not a mistake. It’s a choice. It’s a choice to commit a violent act...and I just think we’ve got to do more…Let’s be on the forefront of this."

It's not a bad idea at all for the NBA—and all professional sports leagues, for that matter—to at least consider Van Gundy's suggestion. You can read a full transcript of the conversation Van Gundy had with his fellow analyst Mark Jones below:

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