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McCaffrey eventually transferred to Holy Cross and became an executive at Eastdil Secured in London. Van Gundy had a long career as a college and NBA head coach, leading the Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals in 2009. In both their lives, it was a mere blip, but 45 years later, McCaffrey could still remember the exact words Van Gundy used during those workouts. Respect yourself, respect the game and get better every day. “Stan Van Gundy,” McCaffrey said, “taught me how to be a basketball player.” Decades later, Van Gundy was surprised to hear about his impact. He didn’t feel like he meant that much. He was just a young coach working out a player. But it did remind him of those people who had done something similar for him. In fact, there was one that almost nobody knew about.
One summer morning in the early 1980s, Herb Livsey asked Van Gundy to drive Pete Newell, the legendary former college coach. Livsey was the head of the Snow Valley Basketball School, one of the premier instructional camps on the West Coast, and Newell was coming to teach. Van Gundy’s assignment was to pick up Newell in Palos Verdes, Calif., drive him two hours back to the camp, then spend the next few days at his side. For Van Gundy, who was in his early 20s, it was a plum assignment — and a meaningful one. “I probably wore Pete Newell out for two days, asking questions,” Van Gundy said. “I don’t think I ever let him catch his breath.”
NBA Base: Josh Hart says Stan Van Gundy is by far the worst coach he’s ever had 😳 “Stan’s by far the worst... I hated playing for him” (Via @Roommates__Show)
Sources say Tom Thibodeau, to the contrary, is not involved in the Magic's interview process at this point. Yet it's well-established that Orlando wants to hire a coach with experience and sources tell both Marc Stein and me that Orlando has LA Clippers assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy on its radar as well. The defensive guru on Tyronn Lue's staff is the brother, of course, of former Magic coach Stan Van Gundy.
While I always hesitate to frame any potential hire as the favorite for a job, since NBA matters can be so fluid, coaching insiders across the league's landscape are very much operating under the belief that former Bulls coach Billy Donovan has an excellent shot at landing the post. Sources confirmed that Donovan is in dialogue with Magic president Jeff Weltman and will have an in-person meeting with Orlando's lead executive in the near future…Orlando has LA Clippers assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy on its radar as well. The defensive guru on Tyronn Lue's staff is the brother, of course, of former Magic coach Stan Van Gundy.
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Manu Ginobili: [NBA] SVG saying on air last night that he hated me might be my favorite compliment of the week Love you too, Stan. Big hug next time.
Dwyane Wade: Our situation was a little different because Stan was a young coach, a very good young coach. I thank Stan so much for my early success. But we’re talking about the Godfather. We’re talking about one of the greatest coaches of all time coming back. That aura, that respect, and what he commanded from us was just totally different. We had a bunch of grown-man knuckleheads. We needed to be brought in. We needed to be pulled together. We weren’t the most talented team, but we had a lot of experience. We had a lot of leadership. We had some winning, from when ‘Zo came down and then with Shaq. We had guys who had seen it before. We had other guys who had long playoff runs and success throughout their careers but were never able to do it at the highest level.
Stan Van Gundy pushes back on Luka’s All-NBA case: "The whole thing with his wife having a baby, Cmon! If those were the only games he missed, fine. Everybody has missed games for personal reasons.... We either have a line, or we don’t... If we have a line, then let’s stick to it. He didn’t make it"
Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson was bullish on the addition of the selfless guard, touting his vision and playmaking. Atkinson, however, could not find ample minutes for Lonzo Ball. The 28-year-old Ball has been under multiple mentors in the NBA, but on “Ball in the Family,” he claimed that his father, LaVar Ball, and his former coach at UCLA, Steve Alford, coached him harder. “I felt like I was coached a certain way for a long period of my life, so when I got to the league, this was weird to me. Like if I was playing badly, somebody would be, ‘Oh, it’s okay.’ That wasn’t translating to me. I'd rather hear like, ‘What the f***? Do your s***.’ It was an adjustment. I haven’t been around a lot of coaches who are going to get on you like that,” said Ball. “Stan Van Gundy was kind of tough, I guess. But other than him, there’s really not hard coaching out here. I got coached much harder in college and by my pops for real.”
Run it Back: Stan Van Gundy thinks European NBA Draft prospects are safer picks than ones from college "You've seen Doncic and Wembanyama...against grown men playing and how they compete. In college, it's harder to get a handle."
Stan Van Gundy thinks European NBA Draft prospects are safer picks than ones from college 👀
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) February 24, 2026
"You've seen Doncic and Wembanyama...against grown men playing and how they compete. In college, it's harder to get a handle."@MichelleDBeadle | @ChandlerParsons | @TeamLou23 pic.twitter.com/Kedf5rKJlz
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Heat Central: Stan Van Gundy is picking Dwyane Wade to take the last shot over anybody in NBA history: “People argue with me and talk about Kobe and Michael Jordan, obviously great players…. But I’ll take Dwyane Wade at the end of the game over anyone who’s ever played”
Heat Central: Stan Van Gundy on when he knew Dwyane Wade would be special his rookie year: “I was coaching our summer league team and we had Dwyane playing the point, which wasn’t his normal position, he actually played it his rookie year. Spo and I were one game into summer league and we were like ‘wow this guy even better than we thought.’ What hit us was his poise and intelligence. Dwyane more than anybody I’ve ever been around had the ability to add something to his game like immediately. Spo would work with him on something in practice one day and Dwyane would do it for like an hour then you’d see it full speed in the game”
Darko Milicic: Orlando was a great period for me initially because I actually got to play. After a good stretch, the team actually offered me a $44 million contract over four years. I would have accepted it without even thinking about the money because I liked it there. But then, they suddenly pulled the offer. They said they were 'afraid' because my 'head wasn't stable.' They offered it and then they played with my head by taking it away. I stayed and played the next season quite well, and the coach told me at the exit meeting that the season wouldn't even start without me. But then he got fired, Stan Van Gundy came in, and he didn't want to see my face on a postage stamp. He wanted to 'exorcise' the gym because my name was on the roster. It’s fascinating how quickly a new coach can decide you have zero value.
Grady said the "Alien" nickname agreed with Wembanyama. But Van Gundy was quick to call for a change. "The only thing is, in the current political environment, you gotta watch that word, Michael Grady," Van Gundy said. "They deport those. We do not want Victor Wembanyama deported. Let's go with a different nickname." Grady laughed it off.