Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy has been fined $35,000 for publicly criticizing game officials, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations. Van Gundy was fined for comments he made that appeared on Thursday, October 15 to the Orlando Sun-Sentinel criticizing the NBA replacement referees. Here's the excerpt: "There’s no problem with them. These are guys the NBA in large part has identified. They’re good, young officials on the way up and one day they’ll be ready. It would be like us having to play with an entire d-league roster. A lot of those guys will be ready to play in three years. if you put one of those guys on an NBA crew they’d probably be all right, but they’re all out there together. It’s like me taking a d-league team and going all right, let’s go play the Hornets. It’s not going to look too good. "There’s no fault of those guys. As much as we get on our own officials, as coaches, those are the best 60 guys in the world. You’re comparing the replacement guys to them. Well, those are the best 60 guys. I don’t care what profession. When you’re getting compared to the best 60 guys." Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi pointed out that it's not like coaches could harp on officials more. Van Gundy said that was a good point. "I would say the one thing it does give you is, as much as we get on our guys, it really gives you an appreciation of how good they are. How hard the job is number one, and how good our guys really are. It’s a tough game to call. And at times they make it look easy. These guys are still struggling to learn. "I’ve seen some really good ones. A couple of them are going to be very good very quick. Some of the other ones, maybe not." The Orlando Magic have also been fined $35,000 for Van Gundy’s actions. OTHER NEWS FROM THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK (THE BIZ OF BASEBALL) Game 1 of 2009 NLCS Ratings Up for TBS Most Viewed MLB Games on FOX All Featured Yankees or Red Sox Fox Sports en Español Releases Spanish Language MLB Postseason Broadcast Schedule Game 1 of 2009 and 2008 NLCS Sees Many Similarities Sixty-Six of Forbes' Richest Americans List Are Sports Investors MLB Network Adds Aaron Boone As Guest Analyst for ALCS MLB Reaches New Broadcast Agreements in China Could the Frank and Jamie McCourt Separation Lead to the Sale of the Dodgers? 20 DVD Set Chronicles 65 Years of the World Series MLB Announces Umpiring Crews for 2009 LCS Video: "This is Beyond a Childhood Dream" Features Jeter, Weaver, Loney, and Rollins Sports. Food. BAM! An Interview with Emeril Lagasse MLB Release Broadcast Schedule for 2009 League Championship Series (THE BIZ OF HOCKEY) Easton Hockey Signs All-Stars Zdeno Chara, Ryan Gettlaf to Multi-Year Extensions NESN Sees Highest Rated BruinsSeason Opener Broadcast in 25 Years “MAKE IT SEVEN.” THE NHL AND CANADIAN NATIONALISM NHL Network Releases U.S. 2009-10 Live NHL Regular-Season Schedule (THE BIZ OF FOOTBALL) Unretire-itis Strikes Again, This Time, Junior Seau Rushing Out the Door: Limbaugh Removed from Checketts Bid Group Limbaugh's Potential Inclusion as NFL Owner Rallies Critics, May Raise Owner Discipline Issues NFL Changes Nov. 1 Start Times to Accommodate MLB Games George Martin Takes On Retired NFL Players Fight Roger Goodell Will Walk Fine Line with Edwards and Cable Incidents UFL Officially Unveils Helmet Logos Football: A Game of Life and Death The New York Jets, David Clowney, and Twitter "Lagasse's Stadium" Design Sets New Standard for Food and Sports Experience Matthew Coller is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network, and is a freelance writer. He can be followed on Twitter Follow The Biz of Basketball on Twitter Follow the Business of Sports Network on Facebook