A couple of points in the aftermath of the Pat Riley/Stan Van Gundy story:

Insiders confirm there are personal family issues in play that validate Van Gundy's story. He was not forced out. (Van Gundy so wants to be believed that one thing that particularly pleased him last week was Suns and ex-Heat assistant Marc Iavaroni telling him, ``All my guys in Phoenix want to know if I believe [you]. I said absolutely.''

There was the expectation inside the team that Riley would take over this season, just not under these circumstances. One person internally said Van Gundy put enormous pressure on himself in his final weeks and was more controlling. The atmosphere around the team is more relaxed.