Longtime former NBA head coach and broadcaster Jeff Van Gundy has reportedly been hired by the Los Angeles Clippers as the lead assistant to head coach Ty Lue after spending the past season as a senior consultant for the NBA champion Boston Celtics, ESPN's Adrian Wojnnarowski reports.
Van Gundy, 62, had previously worked as the head coach of the New York Knicks from 1996 to 2001 and the Houston Rockets from 2003 to 2007 before working as an analyst for ESPN from 2007 to 2023.
"Van Gundy’s considered one of the finest minds in basketball and had been pursued for years to rejoin coaching on a full-time basis. He led the Knicks and Rockets to 430 regular-season and 44 playoff wins over 11 seasons," Wojnarowski wrote on his X account Tuesday (June 18) morning.
Lue, 47, a former NBA point guard, had previously played for Van Gundy on the Rockets during the 2004 season and the two later worked together on the USA Basketball staff. Van Gundy was hired by Celtics coach turned president of basketball operations Brad Stevens last summer.
Van Gundy is reported to have turned down numerous head-coaching jobs in the NBA and collegiate level during his broadcasting career, according to Wojnarowski.