Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy was fined $25,000 by the league for public criticism of league officials.

The penalty came a day after Van Gundy intimated in an in-game interview with ESPN's Lisa Salters that Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James gets calls in his favor.

"A couple calls have upset our guys," Van Gundy told Salters. "They've got to understand, LeBron's LeBron. They're not going to call offensive fouls on him. He gets to do whatever he wants. They've got to understand that."

The comments came during the Pistons' 106-101 Game 1 playoff loss to the Cavs.

After the game, Van Gundy backpedaled and said the officiating was not the reason Detroit lost.

"Look, I thought it evened out really well," Van Gundy said. "But early on, I thought there were two pretty obvious offensive fouls down there on him. But it's two calls in an entire game after that.

"Look, the refereeing had nothing to do with tonight. They did a good job. It went both ways. I thought they did a really good job. It was decided by the players on the floor, as it should be."