Could ESPN’s on-screen talent purge lead to a famous head coach returning to Texas? That may be the case after the network dumped Jeff Van Gundy, who just finished calling the NBA Finals along with Mike Breen and Mark Jackson.
In the latest round of layoffs, ESPN parted ways with Van Gundy, who went into the TV empire after being fired as coach of the Houston Rockets in 2007. While it’s a huge shock to NBA fans everywhere, it seems as though the Dallas Mavericks inquire about Van Gundy’s services, according to insider Mark Stein.
In the June 5 issue of Stein’s Substack Newsletter (In Sports Illustrated), the veteran NBA reporter said the Mavs were considering talking to Van Gundy about an assistant role under head coach Jason Kidd. Van Gundy interviewed about the vacant Rockets head coach position in 2020 before the franchise hired Stephen Silas. (Silas was fired after three seasons in favor of former Boston Celtics coach Emi Odoka’s bench.)
Dallas has had a tumultuous 12 months, starting with the recent season-ending free agent departure of Jalen Brunson, which prompted team owner/governor Mark Cuban to fudge accusations against the New York Knicks. (New York lost its second-round pick in the NBA Draft last Thursday.)
The regular season started off mixed before the Mavs snapped a seven-game winning streak over the winter break. Luka Doncic went on to play him all over the world, but he wasn’t often a one-man show due to an offense that fumbled a lot when he was off the ground. The mid-season trade for Kyrie Irving was only complicated, and the Mavs fell off a cliff in the final weeks of the season, missing the playoffs with a record of 38-44.
Van Gundy isn’t exactly a roster addition a team might need, but his experience off the bench could be vital to a team looking for consistency.
Van Gundy’s team missed the playoffs only once between his six years as an assistant coach and parts of his 11 seasons as head coach in New York and Houston. While the style of play in the NBA has changed dramatically since he led the Knicks to the 1999 NBA Finals, his vision as a broadcaster has kept him extremely close to the game throughout its development.