As much as Stan Van Gundy proved a good sport by preaching the company line, no one in South Florida or the rest of the country believes that he resigned his position as head coach of the Miami Heat on Monday because he wants to hang out with his family. After all, for a man who has spent his life working his way up the ladder in the coaching profession, it is rather odd that Van Gundy suddenly realized that games, practices and road trips are time consuming.

Instead, Van Gundy appears to be the victim of a power play orchestrated by his star center Shaquille O'Neal and his boss Pat Riley. O'Neal, who returned to action Sunday after being out for a month with an ankle injury, had complained about Van Gundy's offense towards the end of last season.  O'Neal's frustration seemed to mount after the Heat's loss to the Detroit Pistons in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, when he lamented the fact that he did not get the ball enough in the closing minutes of the 88-82 defeat.

Less than a month after San Antonio knocked off the Pistons to win the NBA Finals, rumors began surfacing that Riley might return to coaching so he could work with the prized center he acquired the summer before. Riley, who had stepped aside from the Heat bench before the start of the 2003-2004 season after suffering through two dismal campaigns that saw Miami post a combined 51-103 record, reportedly expressed that he wanted to get back on the sideline after watching Van Gundy win 59 games and get to the cusp of the NBA Finals in 2005. Riley appeared willing to push his loyal pupil aside to get back to the top again. This really wasn't that surprising, because the man with the slicked-back hair and Armani suits had shown his true colors before.

Ten years ago, Riley suddenly resigned as head coach with the New York Knicks, citing "serious questions about authority and final decision-making." He had a year left on his contract and was only 12 months removed from guiding New York to its first NBA Finals since 1973. It seemed like a strange time to suddenly leave. However, Riley had been planning his departure for more than a week after the Heat began courting him with a more lucrative offer to take over its coaching duties. The Knicks filed tampering charges and eventually received a first-round pick and $1 million in compensation. Yet the bad blood that resulted from Riley's machinations persisted.

Riley appeared disingenuous then and he does so now, especially in light of the rumors that were circulating this summer. Riley explained Monday that Van Gundy's sudden resignation was a decision his pupil had made with no external influences. But it appears that a center's return to the court and a former coach's lust to roam the sidelines once again pushed Van Gundy to spend more time with his family, not a sudden epiphany that coaching in the NBA is time consuming.