Jeff Van Gundy agrees to become Clippers lead assistant, per source: How he fits

Jeff Van Gundy and the LA Clippers have agreed to a deal that will bring the former television analyst to the organization as a lead assistant on coach Tyronn Lue’s staff, a team source confirmed Tuesday.

ESPN first reported the news.

Van Gundy, 62, spent the 2024 season as a senior consultant for the Boston Celtics and helped the franchise win a record 18th championship following the team’s Game 5 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals on Monday.

Before joining the Celtics, Van Gundy was an analyst at ESPN for 16 years, but he was fired last June following a series of cost-cutting layoffs at the network.

He joined ESPN in 2007 – most notably during his time at the network on NBA Finals broadcasts alongside Mike Breen and Mark Jackson – after 11 seasons in the NBA as head coach for the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets. His head coaching record in the league was 430-318 (.575).

Lue played one season under Van Gundy while with the Rockets in 2004, and the two coached together on the USA Basketball staff.

How Van Gundy fits in with the Clippers

The Clippers already had an active offseason in terms of their coaching situation, which saw Lue sign a five-year contract extension in May. But Lue lost several members of his coaching staff, including head coach Dan Craig, the team’s de facto defensive coordinator. Craig left the team to serve as the lead assistant for the Chicago Bulls.

That’s where Van Gundy comes into the picture. The Clippers called Van Gundy “one of the brightest basketball minds in the world.” Lue started the 2004-05 season with Van Gundy’s Rockets before being traded to Atlanta for Jon Barry. Twenty years later, Van Gundy and Lue are back on the same team.

In addition to a new voice, it will be interesting to see if Lue decides to let Van Gundy lead the Clippers’ defense in Craig’s place. The 2004-05 Rockets that Lue was on ranked fourth in defensive efficiency while allowing the fewest points in the paint. It’s worth mentioning that he had future Hall of Fame centers Yao Ming and Dikembe Mutombo manning the paint. Van Gundy’s coaching tree includes Tom Thibodeau, who is known even today as coach of the New York Knicks.

Van Gundy hasn’t coached in the NBA since 2007 and hasn’t been an assistant since the Knicks fired Don Nelson in March 1996. But Van Gundy kept his basketball mind fresh, serving as a consultant to the championship-winning Celtics this season. last season while guiding the U.S. basketball team through the 2017 AmeriCup tournament and the 2019 FIBA ​​World Cup qualifiers.

Another coach to keep an eye on on Lue’s staff is Dahntay Jones. Last year, Jones led the Clippers in summer league play and is expected to fill that role again, a team source said. When Craig was injured in 2022, Jones was given more responsibilities to help run the defense. Now Jones could team up with Van Gundy as the Clippers look to improve after a season in which the Clippers ranked 16th in defensive efficiency. — Law Murray, Clippers staff writer

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(Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)