Los Angeles Clippers | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position | Lead assistant coach | ||||||||||||||
League | NBA | ||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
Born | Hemet, California, U.S. | January 19, 1962||||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||||
High school | Brockport Central (Brockport, New York) | ||||||||||||||
College |
| ||||||||||||||
Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||||
Coaching career | 1985–2007, 2024–present | ||||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||||
As coach: | |||||||||||||||
1985–1986 | McQuaid Jesuit HS | ||||||||||||||
1986–1988 | Providence (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
1988–1989 | Rutgers (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
1989–1996 | New York Knicks (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
1996–2001 | New York Knicks | ||||||||||||||
2003–2007 | Houston Rockets | ||||||||||||||
2023–2024 | Boston Celtics (senior consultant) | ||||||||||||||
2024–present | Los Angeles Clippers (lead assistant) | ||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
As coach: As senior consultant: | |||||||||||||||
Medals
|
Jeffrey William Van Gundy (born January 19, 1962) is an American basketball coach and former commentator who is currently the top deputy coach for the Los Angeles Clippers. Van Gundy previously served as head coach of the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). During his tenure with the Knicks, he led the team to the 1999 NBA Finals which was their first finals appearance since 1994. They ultimately fell to the San Antonio Spurs. Van Gundy won an NBA championship in 2024 with the Boston Celtics where he served as a senior consultant in the front office.
Van Gundy was born in Hemet, California, and lived in Martinez, California until 1977. [1] His family moved to Brockport, New York while Van Gundy was still in high school, and he attended and played basketball at Brockport High School. [1]
He is the son of basketball coach Bill Van Gundy, the former head coach at SUNY Brockport and at Genesee Community College, [2] and the younger brother of former NBA coach Stan Van Gundy. [3]
As a high school point guard, Van Gundy was a two-time All Greater Rochester selection in 1979 and 1980, leading Brockport to the Class AA finals. Van Gundy attended Yale University before transferring to Menlo College, and ultimately graduating from New York's Nazareth University in 1985. [4]
At Nazareth, Van Gundy led the Golden Flyers to an NCAA Division III Tournament berth in 1984. He remains the Nazareth career leader in free throw percentage, at 86.8%. [5]
Van Gundy began his basketball coaching career during the 1985–86 season, at McQuaid Jesuit High School, in Rochester, New York. [1] The following year, he became a graduate assistant under head coach Rick Pitino, at Providence College, helping the Providence Friars advance to the Final Four. In his second season with the Friars, he was promoted to assistant coach under Gordon Chiesa. The next season, Van Gundy became an assistant coach under Bob Wenzel, at Rutgers.
On July 28, 1989, Van Gundy became an assistant coach for the New York Knicks. He spent the next six-and-a-half seasons providing support to Knicks head coaches Stu Jackson (1989–1990), John MacLeod (1990–1991), Pat Riley (1991–1995), and Don Nelson (1995–1996). During his tenure as an assistant coach, the Knicks won three Atlantic Division titles, never finished lower than third in the division, and qualified for the playoffs every year. The Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference finals in 1993, and the NBA Finals versus the Houston Rockets in 1994. [6]
On March 8, 1996, the Knicks named Van Gundy their next head coach, taking over the reins from Don Nelson. [7] In his second game as head coach, he notably led the Knicks to a 32-point blowout win over the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls, who had eliminated the Knicks from the playoffs four times since 1989. [8] However, Van Gundy was unable to change that trend in the postseason, as the Knicks fell to Chicago in the conference semifinals.
In his first full season as head coach, the Knicks tied for the third-best record in franchise history, at 57–25. [9] In the regular season finale, the Knicks defeated the 69–12 Chicago Bulls in Chicago, preventing them from posting two consecutive 70-win seasons in a row, and tying the best home record in NBA history. [10] Van Gundy was involved in a memorable scene in the 1998 NBA Playoffs series between the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat. When the Heat's center Alonzo Mourning and the Knicks' power forward Larry Johnson engaged in a bench-clearing brawl, Van Gundy unsuccessfully tried to break the fight up. In the process, he fell to the floor and clung to Mourning's leg. [11]
In the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season, the Knicks struggled with injuries (namely to all-star Patrick Ewing) and finished 27–23 to finish as the eighth seed for the playoffs. [12] In the first round of the playoffs, the Knicks upset the Heat in five games, avenging the previous season's playoff loss and becoming just the second 8th seed to defeat the number one seed in the playoffs. The win propelled an improbable run for the Knicks, as they swept the Hawks in the semifinals, and defeated the Pacers in six games, to advance to the NBA Finals. Without Ewing, they were overmatched in the Finals against the Spurs, and lost the series in five games. The Knicks were the first eighth-seeded team in NBA history to reach the NBA Finals.
The Knicks followed up their Finals run with a 50–32 season, and advanced to the Conference finals, where they were defeated by the Indiana Pacers. Until the 2013 playoffs, this was the last time the Knicks won a playoff series.
In a 2001 game between the Spurs and Knicks, Danny Ferry elbowed Marcus Camby. While talking to the referee, Camby lost control and tried to punch Ferry. Camby missed and hit Van Gundy instead, who said he learned his lesson about trying to break up fights between players. [13] The Knicks finished 48–34, but lost in the first round to the Raptors.
Just 19 games into the 2001–02 season, Van Gundy resigned from the Knicks' head coach position. [14] The move was unexpected, as the Knicks were on a winning streak, and coming off a 14-point victory against the Milwaukee Bucks. [15]
On June 10, 2003, Van Gundy was named head coach of the Houston Rockets, replacing Rudy Tomjanovich. [16] In his first season as the team's head coach, the Rockets finished with a 45–37 record, and qualified for the playoffs for the first time in five years, but they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Los Angeles Lakers.
In his second season with the Rockets, Van Gundy guided the team, led by Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, to a 51–31 record, which was their first season with more than 50 wins since 1996–97. The Rockets once again lost in the first round of the playoffs, this time to the Dallas Mavericks. [17]
McGrady and Yao missed a combined 70 games due to injury in the 2005–06 season, and Van Gundy did not make the playoffs for the first time in his NBA head coaching career. In May 2005, Van Gundy was fined $100,000 by the NBA, for accusing referees of targeting Houston Rockets center Yao Ming. Van Gundy blamed Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban for causing the referees' alleged bias. This is the largest fine handed down to a coach in NBA history. [18]
The injuries and disappointments continued for the Rockets into the following season, with injuries limiting Yao to just 48 games played, and McGrady also not fully recovered from his injuries. The Rockets went on a late season run, on the back of a resurgence from McGrady, but another first round playoff loss, this time to the Utah Jazz, sealed Van Gundy's fate as the team's head coach. At the conclusion of their decisive Game 7 loss in the first round of the playoffs, Van Gundy was fired, and then replaced by Rick Adelman.
In July 2017, it was announced that Van Gundy would be the head coach of the senior United States national team at the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup tournament, and in the qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China. USA head coach Gregg Popovich would then resume coaching the team at the World Cup, and at the 2020 Summer Olympics, should they qualify for either. Team USA became Van Gundy's first coaching job since leaving the Rockets in 2007. [19]
Van Gundy went on to guide the US to the gold medal at the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup, and also to qualify for the 2019 FIBA World Cup. [20]
On October 14, 2023, the Boston Celtics announced that Van Gundy had joined the team as a senior consultant to the basketball operations division. [21] The Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals, giving Van Gundy his first NBA Championship. [22]
On June 18, 2024, the Los Angeles Clippers hired Van Gundy to serve as lead assistant under head coach Tyronn Lue, his first NBA coaching job in any capacity since 2007.
Following his firing from the Houston Rockets in 2007, Van Gundy was a guest analyst for ESPN's broadcast of the Phoenix Suns–San Antonio Spurs game in San Antonio, Texas. Soon after, he became a regular broadcast member for ESPN.
He called games as a color commentator with play-by-play announcer Mike Breen and Mark Jackson, including the NBA Finals 15 times. [23] [24] He missed Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals due to COVID-19 protocols, leaving behind Mark Jones, Mark Jackson, and Lisa Salters. [25]
In June 2023, Van Gundy was let go by ESPN amid a wave of layoffs at the network. [26] [27]
Van Gundy's older brother is Stan Van Gundy, who is a former head coach of the NBA's Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, New Orleans Pelicans, and Detroit Pistons. [28]
On May 8, 2011, Van Gundy received an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, from his alma mater, Nazareth University, during the college's 84th Annual Commencement Ceremony. [29]
Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York | 1995–96 | 23 | 13 | 10 | .565 | 2nd in Atlantic | 8 | 4 | 4 | .500 | Lost in Conference semifinals |
New York | 1996–97 | 82 | 57 | 25 | .695 | 2nd in Atlantic | 10 | 6 | 4 | .600 | Lost in Conference semifinals |
New York | 1997–98 | 82 | 43 | 39 | .524 | 2nd in Atlantic | 10 | 4 | 6 | .400 | Lost in Conference semifinals |
New York | 1998–99 | 50 | 27 | 23 | .540 | 4th in Atlantic | 20 | 12 | 8 | .600 | Lost in NBA Finals |
New York | 1999–00 | 82 | 50 | 32 | .610 | 2nd in Atlantic | 16 | 9 | 7 | .563 | Lost in Conference finals |
New York | 2000–01 | 82 | 48 | 34 | .585 | 3rd in Atlantic | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | Lost in first round |
New York | 2001–02 | 19 | 10 | 9 | .526 | (resigned) | — | — | — | — | — |
Houston | 2003–04 | 82 | 45 | 37 | .549 | 5th in Midwest | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | Lost in first round |
Houston | 2004–05 | 82 | 51 | 31 | .622 | 3rd in Southwest | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | Lost in first round |
Houston | 2005–06 | 82 | 34 | 48 | .415 | 5th in Southwest | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
Houston | 2006–07 | 82 | 52 | 30 | .634 | 3rd in Southwest | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | Lost in first round |
Career | 748 | 430 | 318 | .575 | 88 | 44 | 44 | .500 |
The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Madison Square Garden, an arena they share with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). They are one of two NBA teams located in New York City; the other team is the Brooklyn Nets. Alongside the Boston Celtics, the Knicks are one of two original NBA teams still located in its original city.
Marcus Dion Camby is an American former professional basketball player who played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named Defensive Player of the Year during the 2006–07 NBA season, leading the league in blocked shots per game. Camby is also a four-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Team and is 12th on the NBA's all-time career blocks list.
Patrick James Riley is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president and minority owner of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also served as the team's head coach from 1995 to 2003 and again from 2005 to 2008. Often referred to as "The Godfather", Riley is regarded as one of the greatest NBA figures of all time both as a coach and executive. He has won five NBA championships as a head coach, four with the Los Angeles Lakers during their Showtime era in the 1980s and one with the Heat in 2006. Riley is a nine-time NBA champion across his tenures as a player (1972), assistant coach (1980), head coach, and executive. Since the start of his NBA career through 2023, Riley appeared in 34 percent of all NBA Finals as a player, coach, or executive.
Hubert "Hubie" Jude Brown is an American retired basketball coach and player and active television analyst. Brown is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, the honors separated by 26 years. Brown was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005.
Michael Breen is an American play-by-play sports commentator. He has been the lead announcer for NBA games on ABC and ESPN since 2006, including the NBA Finals. He is also the lead announcer for New York Knicks games on the MSG Network. Breen previously called NFL regular season games for both NFL on Fox and NFL on NBC, as well as New York Giants preseason games.
Michael Andrew D'Antoni is an American-Italian professional basketball coach and former player who is a coaching advisor for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Donald Ray Chaney is an American former professional basketball player and coach, most notable for winning two championships as a player on the Boston Celtics, and winning NBA Coach of The Year while leading the Houston Rockets.
Stanley Alan Van Gundy is an American former basketball coach who is a television commentator for NBA on TNT and College Basketball on CBS. Prior to TNT, he was most recently the head coach for the New Orleans Pelicans of the NBA. He also served as the head coach and president of basketball operations for the Detroit Pistons from 2014 to 2018. From 2003 to 2005, he was the head coach of the Miami Heat but resigned in 2005 mid-season, returning the job over to Pat Riley. Van Gundy then coached the Orlando Magic for five seasons from 2007 to 2012, leading them to the 2009 NBA Finals. He is the older brother of former New York Knicks and Houston Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy.
Mark A. Jackson is an American former professional basketball player who was a point guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the St. John's Red Storm and was selected by the New York Knicks in the first round of the 1987 NBA draft with the 18th overall pick. He played in the NBA for the Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, and Houston Rockets in a career spanning from 1987 to 2004.
The 2006 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2005–06 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Dallas Mavericks were favored to win the championship over the Miami Heat. Despite these odds, the Heat won the title in six games over the Mavericks, becoming the third team—after the 1969 Celtics, the 1977 Trail Blazers and later the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2021 Milwaukee Bucks—to win a championship after trailing 0–2 in the series. Dwyane Wade of the Heat was named Most Valuable Player of the series.
Scott Layden is an American former general manager for the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is the son of former coach and general manager of the Jazz, Frank Layden, and a graduate of Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania, where he studied Business and Sports Management. Layden was the general manager for the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2016 to 2020.
Thomas Joseph Thibodeau Jr., nicknamed "Thibs", is an American basketball coach who is the head coach for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He served as an assistant coach for the United States men's national basketball team from 2013 to 2016, and helped Team USA win a gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games.
The 1998–99 NBA season was the Knicks’ 52nd season in the National Basketball Association. On March 23, 1998, the owners of all 29 NBA teams voted 27–2 to reopen the league's collective bargaining agreement, seeking changes to the league's salary cap system, and a ceiling on individual player salaries. The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) opposed to the owners' plan, and wanted raises for players who earned the league's minimum salary. After both sides failed to reach an agreement, the owners called for a lockout, which began on July 1, 1998, putting a hold on all team trades, free agent signings and training camp workouts, and cancelling many NBA regular season and preseason games. Due to the lockout, the NBA All-Star Game, which was scheduled to be played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 14, 1999, was also cancelled.
The 1999–2000 NBA season was the 53rd season of the team in the National Basketball Association. The Knicks entered the season as runner-ups of the 1999 NBA Finals, where despite losing to the San Antonio Spurs in five games, they became the first eighth seeded team to reach the NBA Finals. During the off-season, the team signed free agents John Wallace and Andrew Lang; Wallace previously played for the Knicks during the 1996–97 season. After advancing to the NBA Finals as the #8 seed last year, the Knicks won their first three games, but then lost seven of their next ten games, as Patrick Ewing missed the first 20 games with Achilles tendonitis. However, they won 11 of their next 13 games, then later on held a 29–18 record at the All-Star break, and finished second in the Atlantic Division with a 50–32 record, good enough for their first 50-win season since 1997.
The 2001–02 New York Knicks season was the 56th season for the Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). During the off-season, the Knicks acquired Shandon Anderson from the Houston Rockets and Howard Eisley from the Dallas Mavericks in a three-team trade, and signed free agent Clarence Weatherspoon. Entering the season, the Knicks were without Larry Johnson, who retired during training camp due to lingering injuries, ending his 10-year career in the NBA. After a 10–9 start to the season, head coach Jeff Van Gundy unexpectedly resigned in December, explaining he had "diminished focus", though he would return to coach the Houston Rockets in the 2003–04 season. Don Chaney took over for Van Gundy.
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before moving to Houston, Texas.
The 2002–03 NBA season was the Nuggets' 27th season in the National Basketball Association, and 36th season as a franchise. The Nuggets had the fifth overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft, and selected Nikoloz Tskitishvili from the Republic of Georgia. Prior to the start of the season, the Nuggets acquired Marcus Camby and top draft pick Nenê Hilario from the New York Knicks, acquired second-year guard Rodney White from the Detroit Pistons, signed free agents Mark Blount and undrafted rookie Junior Harrington, and acquired Chris Whitney from the Washington Wizards. After a 2–9 start to the season with new head coach Jeff Bzdelik, the Nuggets won three straight games, but then lost 15 of their next 16 games, which included a ten-game losing streak, as Camby only played just 29 games due to ankle and hip injuries. In December, James Posey was traded to the Houston Rockets in a three-team trade, while Blount was traded back to his former team, the Boston Celtics in exchange for Shammond Williams in February. Also, that same month, Whitney was released and signed with the Orlando Magic for the rest of the season.
The 2003–04 NBA season was the Rockets' 37th season in the National Basketball Association, and their 33rd season in the city of Houston. The season saw the Rockets move their home games from Compaq Center to the new Toyota Center. During the offseason, the Rockets hired head coach Jeff Van Gundy, who is best known for his tenure with the New York Knicks, and signed free agent Jim Jackson. Midway through the season, they signed free agent point guard Mark Jackson. The Rockets finished fifth in the Midwest Division with a 45–37 record, and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1999 as the number 7 seed in the Western Conference. Second-year star Yao Ming and Steve Francis were both selected for the 2004 NBA All-Star Game. However, the Rockets were eliminated from the first round of the playoffs by the Los Angeles Lakers, who added Karl Malone and Gary Payton to join Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, in five games. This also marked Francis' only playoff appearance in his career. Following the season, he was traded along with Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato to the Orlando Magic, and Mark Jackson retired.
Steven Gerald Clifford is an American professional basketball coach and executive who serves as a front office advisor for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously served as the head coach of the Hornets and the Orlando Magic.
The New York Knickerbockers, better known as the New York Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City that competes in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Knicks play in the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division. In its 77 seasons, the franchise has reached the NBA Finals eight times and won two championships. As of the end of the 2021–22 season, New York has won more than 2,900 regular season games, and the team had the fourth-highest victory total in NBA history. Since 1968, the Knicks have played home games at Madison Square Garden.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)