Tom Izzo's reaction reveals true nature of Warriors vs Rockets playoff series, says Stan Van Gundy

Longtime Michigan State coach Tom Izzo led the Spartans to a Big Ten conference regular season title win and the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans started the season unranked but finished on a hot streak and were narrowly beaten 70-64 by the No. 1-seeded Auburn Tigers in their Elite Eight clash.

On Wednesday, during the Houston Rockets' 109-94 win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 2 of the NBA Playoffs, announcer Stan Van Gundy revealed that the Michigan State coach who is renowned for championing a physical style of basketball had texted him about the physicality of the intense NBA game.

"Here's how I know a game in a series is physical, I got a text from Tom Izzo and he thinks the game is really physical," Stan Van Gundy said. "Tom Izzo thinks every game is soft. If he thinks the game is physical, it's physical.

"This looks like every practice I've ever seen with Tom Izzo," Brian Anderson said. "Sometimes they do break out the football equipment."

Tom Izzo addresses retirement speculation

Tom Izzo has been the Michigan State Spartans coach for 30 years but during a news conference on Tuesday, he revealed that he had no desire to retire despite being 70 years old.

“I still have a passion, I still have energy, I still want to make a difference, I still want to help kids live their dream, that I got to live mine,” Izzo said. “All the right reasons. I keep thinking to myself ‘living your dream,’ so I’m still living the dream. Is it a little bit foggy? Hell, yeah it is. Is it a little bit harder to navigate? Hell, yeah it is.

“When I quit doing that, I’ll probably hang it up but I’ve got no interest in hanging it up when I still have the passion, the love for the game. I absolutely love my day-to-day dealing with my players, I love my job, I love the university I work for.”

The Spartans coach decried the unregulated state of the transfer portal but revealed that it wouldn't factor in whether he would retire or not just yet.

Izzo has led the Michigan State Spartans to 16 Sweet 16s in his 30-year career and won one national championship and is showing no signs of slowing down as he continues to keep his team among the elite despite the changing landscape of college basketball.