NBA coach Stan Van Gundy slams 'brazenly racist and misogynistic' Donald Trump

"We have just thrown a good part of our population under the bus."
 By 
Sam Laird
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick took one tack after Donald Trump was elected president by professing not to be "a political person" -- even after writing Trump a letter of support.

NBA coach Stan Van Gundy took another approach entirely Wednesday: Scorched Earth.

Van Gundy ripped Trump as "openly and brazenly racist and misogynistic" on Wednesday, per the Detroit Free Press.


You May Also Like

"We have just thrown a good part of our population under the bus, and I have problems with thinking this is where we are as a country," the Detroit Pistons headman and veteran NBA coach lamented.

Others in the NBA world quickly rejected the notion of a Trump presidency as well on Wednesday -- veteran NBA forward David West blasted the "fairytale" notion of a post-racial America defined by Barack Obama's back-to-back elections. But Van Gundy went several steps further in a lengthy monologue about the election and the future of America.

Here are several choice quotes -- for the full transcript, visit the Free Press.

On the difference between Trump and Bush:

"I didn’t vote for (George W.) Bush, but he was a good, honorable man with whom I had political differences, so I didn’t vote for him. But for our country to be where we are now, who took a guy who -- I don’t care what anyone says, I’m sure they have other reasons and maybe good reasons for voting for Donald Trump -- but I don’t think anybody can deny this guy is openly and brazenly racist and misogynistic and ethnic-centric, and say, ‘That’s OK with us, we’re going to vote for him anyway.'"

On what a Trump presidency likely means for many Americans:

“We have just thrown a good part of our population under the bus, and I have problems with thinking that this is where we are as a country."

On the message Trump's election sends Van Gundy's daughters and other women:

"It’s just, we have said -- and my daughters, the three of them -- our society has said, ‘No, we think you should be second-class citizens. We want you to be second-class citizens. And we embrace a guy who is openly misogynistic as our leader.' I don’t know how we get past that."

On what it tells the rest of the world:

"I understand problems with the economy. I understand all the problems with Hillary Clinton, I do. But certain things in our country should disqualify you. And the fact that millions and millions of Americans don’t think that racism and sexism disqualifies you to be our leader, in our country ... We presume to tell other countries about human-rights abuses and everything else. We better never do that again, when our leaders talk to China or anybody else about human-rights abuses."

"We just elected an openly, brazen misogynist leader and we should keep our mouths shut and realize that we need to be learning maybe from the rest of the world, because we don’t got anything to teach anybody."

And a final thought:

"It’s incredible. I don’t know how you go about it, if you’re a person of color today or a Latino. Because white society just said to you, again -- not like we haven’t forever -- but again, and emphatically, that I don’t think you deserve equality. We don’t think you deserve respect. And the same with women. That’s what we say today, as a country. We should be ashamed for what we stand for as the United States today."

Mashable Image
Sam Laird

Sam Laird is Mashable's Senior Sports Reporter. He covers the wide, weird world of sports from all angles -- as well as occasional other topics -- from Mashable's San Francisco bureau. Before joining Mashable in November 2011, his freelance work appeared in publications including the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, Slam, and East Bay Express. Sam is a graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, and basketball and burritos take up most of his spare time. Follow him on Twitter @samcmlaird.

Mashable Potato

Recommended For You
How to watch Van De Sandschlup vs. Djokovic online for free
Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a forehand


Jimmy Kimmel slams Trump and Musk over latest Epstein files release
A man stands on a talk show stage pointing towards the camera.

How to watch NBA live streams online for free
Male basketball player dunks the ball with two hands. Close up on the rim, net and ball.

Can the Garmin Forerunner 55 replace a personal coach for half-marathon prep?
Garmin Forerunner 55

Trending on Mashable
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 3, 2026
Connections game on a smartphone

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 3, 2026
Wordle game on a smartphone

NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 4, 2026
Connections game on a smartphone

Google launches Gemma 4, a new open-source model: How to try it
Google Gemma

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 4, 2026
Wordle game on a smartphone
The biggest stories of the day delivered to your inbox.
These newsletters may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. By clicking Subscribe, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Thanks for signing up. See you at your inbox!