Was Jeff Van Gundy's decision to resign as coach of the New York Knicks a reflection on anything that had happened with the teams?  Maybe very little of it was, writes Marc Berman from the New York Post, who reports that the loss of close friend Farrell Lynch in the World Trade Center disaster did more, as much as 75%, towards his decision than anything else.

People who know Van Gundy's relationship with Lynch believes his lack of "laserlike focus" and his sudden quest to spend more time with his family and 6-year-old daughter, Mattie, was directly related to Lynch's death, wrote Berman.

"Jeff is really a post-Sept. 11 hero figure in my eyes," said Pat Cannon, a close friend of Lynch's. "He's a workaholic who took a step back and got a grip on his life. He's taken this event and is going to spend more time with his family and change the focus in his life.