Rumors

Barry Jackson: Amazon Prime's full NBA game announcing talent lineup is now set, as it prepares for its first season of coverage: Play by play: Ian Eagle, Kevin Harlan, Wolves TV voice Michael Grady, Hornets TV voice Eric Collins.. Analysts: Stan Van Gundy, Brent Barry, Dell Curry; D-Wade, Steve Nash, Candace Parker will split time between games and studio. (Eagle and Harlan obviously keep their CBS NFL and college basketball jobs as well.)

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“So, next up on the list: the Knicks made a mistake by getting rid of Tom Thibodeau.” Stan Van Gundy “Yeah, they totally did. That was a big mistake. Tom Thibodeau—one of the best coaches in this league—did an unbelievable job with that team this year. Maximized virtually everyone on their roster. I mean, OG Anunoby—best year of his career. Karl-Anthony Towns—probably the best year of his career. Jalen Brunson, a guy who was what, a 15–16 point-a-game scorer in Dallas, has become a star. Josh Hart went from a backup to a triple-double-type of guy in New York. I mean, he just maximized this roster and took them places they hadn't been in a quarter of a century. And they make a coaching change? Made absolutely no sense to me.”

YouTube

“LeBron’s gotten a little hate for a long time for a lot of different things,” Van Gundy said after Samson noted James has been criticized for taking his full player option with the Los Angeles Lakers. “Whether it was his decision to come to Miami that he announced on TV, whether it was bumping into Eric Spoelstra. Whatever it is, LeBron’s gotten a lot of hate for a guy who’s had the best career of any NBA player, ever. And we can argue who the best player has been in the NBA, but it’s hard to argue that anyone’s had a better career. “The most amazing thing to me is, this guy has been a national figure since he’s been in eighth grade, what’s the biggest off-court controversy you’ve got on this guy? This guy has done nothing except represent the game of basketball and the league well. And yet, there’s this hate for him,” Van Gundy continued. “I have never understood the negativity around him. I think a lot of it was there’s so many people out there who just revered Michael Jordan and the fact that people would question, ‘Is LeBron as good?’ led to a hatred of LeBron instead of an appreciation of what he’s done. And I think that’s unfortunate.”

Awful Announcing

For example, Stan Van Gundy had the most unique collection of ballots relative to his peers this year. His high Contrarian Score is largely driven by his Sixth Man of the Year, Coach of the Year, and Most Improved Player of the Year ballots. Here are some choices he made that stand out.

Substack

A few hours after he finished calling Game 1 of Knicks-Pacers, TNT’s Stan Van Gundy woke up in his New York hotel room and re-watched the tape. “I really was going back over every play because my impression coming out of it was that the Knicks’ defense was just soft and they had way too many mistakes and breakdowns. And when I watched it again, it was even clearer,” Van Gundy, the longtime TNT analyst, said.

SportsNet New York

Does Van Gundy think the Knicks will let the loss impact them in Game 2? “They’ll look at the mistakes and pick themselves (up) and get ready to go. I don’t think (Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau) has to worry about (hangover from Wednesday’s loss) at this time of year,” Van Gundy said. “Their pick and roll defense to me, early on in the game, (Karl-Anthony) Towns was really back. (Myles) Turner was just getting wide-open shots. And then they had some miscommunications on perimeter screens; small-small (screens). Are we switching or not? They had breakdowns there. And then late in the game, they were really soft on their switches and (Aaron) Nesmith was hitting threes. To me, they’ve got to clean up their pick-and-roll coverages, being up and more aggressive. And their communication’s got to be a lot better on what they’re doing. “….There was not a hard three in that stretch (of Nesmith’s six threes late in the fourth quarter). It’s still hard to make six straight threes. But it wasn’t like the shot-clock ran down and someone had to throw one in. He got great looks. Nesmith, all five of his looks were great looks. And the one (Tyrese) Haliburton got, (Mikal) Bridges gave him a lot of space on that one, too. They got really good shots. I just thought the Knicks' defense in that stretch was very soft. And in the overtime, they had breakdowns on (Obi) Toppin’s dunk and (Andrew) Nembhard’s back cut. They just, defensively, didn’t get the job done.”

SportsNet New York

TNT’s Stan Van Gundy has been hired by Amazon Prime Video to be a game analyst for its forthcoming NBA coverage next season, sources briefed on the move told The Athletic. Van Gundy, 65, joins Ian Eagle on Prime Video’s game telecasts. While Prime has designated Eagle as its No. 1 play-by-play announcer, it plans on waiting to name its top game analysts.

New York Times

TNT’s Stan Van Gundy has been hired by Amazon Prime Video to be a game analyst for its forthcoming NBA coverage next season, sources briefed on the move told The Athletic.

New York Times

Van Gundy, 65, joins Ian Eagle on Prime Video’s game telecasts. While Prime has designated Eagle as its No. 1 play-by-play announcer, it plans on waiting to name its top game analysts. It has shown interest in Richard Jefferson, who was just promoted to ESPN’s No. 1 crew with Mike Breen and Doris Burke. Jefferson’s contract expires after he calls the NBA Finals for ABC in June.

New York Times

In August, the Clippers decamped for Hawaii, where their training camp was held. There, Van Gundy addressed the group. “He told us we’re going to be turning into a defensive-minded team and that it starts with coming into work and being willing to do the work,” Dunn said. Van Gundy had two primary goals for the season. One was to fix the Clippers’ rebounding issues; only six teams had been worse on the defensive glass the previous season. The other was to up their defensive pressure; only nine teams forced a fewer percentage of turnovers. Soon after, Van Gundy began implementing the team’s defensive schemes. “I got there late because I was competing [with France] in the Olympics,” Batum said. “And when I arrived, guys told me that with [Van Gundy] here things were different now.” Still, Batum wasn’t able to comprehend what that meant until he saw a Van Gundy practice for himself. “He’ll be like, ‘Don’t stand here, stand here,’ and then he’ll literally move you one inch,” Batum said.

Yahoo! Sports

Bennett Durando: Nikola Jokic on the tussle for the ball with Clippers assistant coaches: “It seems like it’s a part of basketball nowadays.” He said that’s not supposed to happen and that the NBA is trying to emphasize speeding up the game.

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Tim Hardaway: I see JJ Redick, and I like what JJ Redick is doing. He’s going in there and saying, ‘Look, if I’m going to get fired, I’m going to get fired doing things my way. I'm not going to get fired running the team the way you all want me to.’ So, he's doing it his way. He feels like he’s got some great, great, great assistant coaches—McMillan, Bob Beyer, and who else? Brooks? Yeah, yeah. I mean, he’s got some really, really good assistant coaches, guys who were head coaches, and he's listening to them, but he’s also implementing his own system. And I want to tell you this—way, way back behind the scenes, he's calling Stan Van Gundy, because that's his boy, that's his guy. I know Stan is giving him a lot of information about what needs to be done and how he needs to do it, so he’s been listening.

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In addition to Van Gundy, Redick credits Doc Rivers and Brett Brown as integral figures in his growth as a professional. Rivers, known for his leadership and ability to get the best out of his players, helped Redick find his voice as a leader on the court. “Doc was obviously one of the best,” Redick reflects. “He made me understand the value of being a team player and knowing how to perform under pressure.” Brett Brown, meanwhile, helped Redick transition into the later years of his career with the Philadelphia 76ers. “Brett was wonderful as well,” says Redick. “He gave me the freedom to be myself while also pushing me to grow. Each of these guys taught me something different, and I carry their lessons with me every day.”

ScoopB.com

Van Gundy discussed his career prospects on the latest episode of The Varsity podcast with Puck’s John Ourand. “I hope to be working, I really want to be working, and I would love it to still be in the NBA,” Van Gundy said. “It’s what I know best, it’s what I think I do best. And I’m hoping that will work out with somebody.”

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