Add another notable name to Joe Mazzulla’s coaching staff.
Longtime NBA head coach and former ESPN commentator Jeff Van Gundy has joined Boston as a Senior Consultant, the team announced Saturday.
Van Gundy compiled a 430-318 record in his 11 years coaching in the NBA, reaching the NBA Finals with the New York Knicks in 1999. In 2007, Van Gundy traded in his clipboard for a microphone, becoming one-third of ESPN/ABC’s leading commentary group for nationally televised games alongside Mike Breen and Mark Jackson. Van Gundy broadcasted the last 16 NBA Finals before being let go by ESPN as part of a round of layoffs this past summer.
While his time on NBA sidelines was limited to the broadcasting booth, the 61-year-old has remained active on the international stage, serving as the head coach of the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup Tournament team and then as an assistant with Team USA in the 2019 Word Cup and 2020 Summer Olympics. The Celtics’ franchise cornerstones, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, participated on the 2019 FIBA team alongside Van Gundy.
In a post on the Celtics’ website, Marc D’Amico writes that Van Gundy will be “involved in the entire operation”, including working with coaches, general manager Brad Stevens, and Boston’s G-League team in Maine.
D’Amico reports that Van Gundy has already been a consistent and vocal presence at preseason practice sessions.
“Anytime you can add high-character, high-level, professional people, I think it’s a no-brainer,” Mazzulla said of Van Gundy’s addition.
Mazzulla told D’Amico the organization hopes Van Gundy will provide a critical and impartial eye to the day-to-day operations.
“It’s good to get a guy who hasn’t been here before that can kinda have an unbiased opinion as to where things are and where they need to go,” the Celtics second-year coach said. “He’s kinda a fresh set of eyes, because he’s not around all the time, and he’s looking at it from an unbiased position, which kinda gives us an advantage because you kinda see it from a different perspective.”
The Celtics have rebuilt their bench for Mazzulla’s sophomore campaign as head coach. After a minor exodus of assistants, Mazzulla used his first full offseason as Celtics head coach to add prominent assistant coaches like Charles Lee and former Celtics champion Sam Cassell.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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