LA Clippers: Ranking the top 3 coaching candidates

2. Jeff Van Gundy

Jeff Van Gundy was named by Adrian Wojnarowski as one of the coaches that the LA Clippers could potentially be interested in.

Van Gundy has been out of the league for a while now, at least as a coach. He last coached during the 2006-07 NBA season where he led Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, and the Houston Rockets to a 52-30 record.

Overall, he has a 430-318 record in 11 seasons in the NBA and is an even .500 in the postseason at 44-44. The 58-year-old has since been working in broadcasting, most notably as the color commentator alongside Mark Jackson and Mike Breen on ESPN and ABC. If you have watched any primetime basketball over the past few years, I guarantee you have heard Van Gundy go on one of his famous tangents where he grumpily complains about the league.

To be fair, that might even paint a poor picture for you. But let’s be clear. Van Gundy still understands the game. If you don’t listen to the Lowe Post (you should), listen to some of the recent episode previewing the NBA Finals with Van Gundy.

He takes the discussion seriously, breaking down both teams and what matchups he would exploit. This subdued version of Van Gundy is more like the actual coach and not the TV personality he has built up.

Don’t forget that he has also had a hand in Team USA basketball, winning gold with Team USA at the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup. He also coached the team in the qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA World Cup before Gregg Popovich took back over. This is to say, he still has been exercising his coaching abilities even though he hasn’t been doing it as an NBA coach.

The Clippers would do well with him as the head coach and he shouldn’t have many issues working with this talented group.