Stanley Alan Van Gundy (born August 26, 1959) is an American former basketball coach who is a television commentator for the NBA on TNT and College Basketball on CBS. Prior to TNT, Van Gundy 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.
Playing career
Van Gundy was a starting guard at Alhambra High School in Martinez, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. After his senior year, he played for an all-county team that also included Kenny Carter, whose coaching career was the basis for Coach Carter, a Hollywood feature film starring Samuel L. Jackson. Van Gundy played college basketball for his father, Bill Van Gundy, at SUNY-Brockport, a Division III school, until he graduated in 1981 with a B.A. in English and a B.S. in Physical Education.
Coaching career
College
Van Gundy began his coaching career as an assistant coach at the University of Vermont, 1981–83, and was head coach at Castleton State College in Vermont for three seasons from 1983 to 1986. After his first season as Castleton head coach, the NAIA named Van Gundy the District 5 Coach of the Year. Castleton finished 1984–85 the top team in the NAIA's Mayflower Conference and won the NAIA District 5 tournament. After serving as an assistant coach at Canisius College in 1987 and Fordham University in 1988, Van Gundy was named head coach at the University of Lowell. During his four-season tenure at the school, which saw the institution become the University of Massachusetts Lowell, he compiled a record of 54–60 and coached Leo Parent, whom Van Gundy called "the best Division 2 player in the nation."
Van Gundy then became an assistant at the University of Wisconsin under Stu Jackson. When Jackson left after 2 years to become general manager of the expansion NBA Vancouver franchise, Van Gundy was promoted to replace him as head coach and given a 5-year contract. Coming off an 18–11 season with future NBA star Michael Finley back for his senior year and highly touted recruits coming in, the team went into the season with high expectations, but ended with a disappointing 13–14 record (7–11 and ninth place in the Big 10). Van Gundy was fired at the end of the season and given a buyout for the 4 years remaining on his contract. Van Gundy blamed financial concerns at the school for his firing. The team would go on to hire Dick Bennett from the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay and he finished his first year with a 17–15 record and NIT appearance despite losing Finley and other key players.
Overall, Van Gundy compiled a record of 135–92 () in eight years as a college head coach.
Miami Heat
When Pat Riley left the New York Knicks to coach the Miami Heat, the Knicks refused to let him hire Jeff Van Gundy, perhaps his most valuable assistant. Riley hired Stan, his brother, saying "I wanted at least one Van Gundy with me". Stan Van Gundy spent 12 years with the Heat. After working as an assistant under Riley, Van Gundy was named head coach when Riley abruptly resigned as coach prior to the 2003–04 season. However, Riley remained as President of the team. Van Gundy took over a team that had won 25 games the previous season. He led them to a 42-win season, in which they won a very high percentage of their late season games and surprised many by advancing to the second round of the 2004 NBA playoffs, nearly defeating the team with the league's best record, the Indiana Pacers, with Van Gundy's dynamic coaching showcasing the strong play of rookie Dwyane Wade.