Stan Van Gundy Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Van Gundy On Howard, Magic, Press Conference

September 11th, 2012 at 6:54pm CST by Chuck Myron

On a Grantland.com podcast with Dan LeBatard and Jon Sciambi, Stan Van Gundy opened up about his tumultuous final season as coach of the Magic, and in particular addressed the awkward April 5th press conference in which an unwitting Dwight Howard put his arm Van Gundy moments after the coach told reporters Howard wanted him fired. In the podcast, Van Gundy praised Howard's effort to play despite his injured back before he was finally shut down last season. He said the press conference put Howard in a tough spot, but said he hoped getting everything out in the open would bring speculation to an end and allow the story to run its course, a strategy that fell apart when the injury ended Howard's season. Ben Golliver of CBSSports.com provides a transcript of some of Van Gundy's notable comments from the podcast, and we'll hit a few highlights here:

On his thoughts as the press conference took place:

"It was already a big deal before he put his arm around me. You knew the question was coming, so I had time to prepare for it. It's not like it came out of the blue [and] I just [answered] off the top of my head … I gave some thought to whether I was going to answer this honestly, or no comment or just lie. I thought it through, but I knew it would be a big deal. I didn't really know what happened with Dwight and I would become a bigger deal."

On his response to the question, "Does Dwight want you fired?"

"That in particular was calculated. What you're calculating is not what the media response is going to be or anything else. You're making your decision on what my team needs. I didn't break a story there. That story had been out all year. All I did, basically, was confirm it, get it done hopefully, and try in our locker room to get rid of the BS. Saying, look, 'I know what's going on. I'm not afraid of what's going on. We're going to go play basketball now and get it done.' That's what the calculation came down to."

On the Magic front office's reaction to Howard wanting him out:

"I knew the best approach was our management needed to resolve the situation one way or another. Fire me, extend me, or make some sort of statement. Our management chose not to do that. My choice then became, are we going to just let this go on? … Or are we at least going to bring some closure to it?"

On Howard:

"I don't have a problem with Dwight in the situation. He was given a forum by management to express his opinions. They decided to do that and he did it. I just had to deal with it as a coach, that's all. He's entitled to his opinion and management asked him what he thought at some point. Dwight always played hard."

On the rest of the team's reaction following the press conference:

"You could poll everybody. I think it actually played out the way I would have wanted it, with everyone. Dwight was obviously pissed off about it. The rest of them, I thought it played out the way everybody wanted it to… I think they got a respect. I think they had respect for me, anyway, but I think they got a respect of, basically, he doesn't give a damn. Dwight wants him out of here. He knows it, number one. He's not in the dark wondering what's going on. He's not naive, he knows what's going on. He wants to just stay focused."

Odds & Ends: Nuggets, Nelson, Van Gundy

August 15th, 2012 at 12:47pm CST by Luke Adams

Let's round up a few items of note from around the league on a Wednesday afternoon:

Denver GM Masai Ujiri told KKFN in Denver (link via Sports Radio Interviews) that the Nuggets always had interest in Andre Iguodala and "kept poking" at the Magic's three-way Dwight Howard talks until they figured out a way to get involved and acquire him.
Former NBA coach Don Nelson isn't interested in returning to a team's bench, even if someone calls, tweets Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. Stan Van Gundy, meanwhile, recently said he still has the itch to coach, but has to weigh that desire against family considerations (link via Sports Radio Interviews).
In an Insider piece for ESPN.com, Chad Ford and John Hollinger share their Future Power Rankings, from the Heat at No. 1 to the Bobcats at No. 30.
Having added two centers this summer, the Pistons may ask Greg Monroe to play at power forward, and the big man tells Keith Langlois of Pistons.com he's ready for it.
Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com examines what all the offseason additions mean for the Mavericks' rotation.

Coach/GM Updates: Bobcats, Blazers, Magic

May 30th, 2012 at 2:33pm CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers exercised Vinny Del Negro's option for 2012/13 yesterday, filling another potential high-profile head coaching job. While it appears there won't be as much coaching turnover this summer as we may have expected, the Bobcats are interviewing candidates, and the Blazers and Magic will be in the market for new coaches once they hire general managers. Here are the latest updates on a few NBA job searches….

The Bobcats’ Head Coach Search

May 28th, 2012 at 2:15pm CST by Luke Adams

It's been about a month since the Bobcats announced they wouldn't be bringing back Paul Silas to coach the team next season. Since then, the Bobcats have conducted an extensive search for their new head coach that has seen them interview eight candidates, with more to come. In case you've lost track of all the names in the running for the Charlotte job, here's a round-up of what we've heard to date:

Mike Dunlap, St. John's assistant: Interviewed on May 16th. Dunlap is probably a long shot for the Bobcats' job.
Patrick Ewing, Magic assistant: Interviewed on May 17th. A source told Marc Berman of the New York Post shortly after Ewing's interview that it was hardly a courtesy meeting and that Ewing has a "good chance" of becoming Charlotte's next coach.
David Joerger, Grizzlies assistant: Interviewed on May 18th. We haven't heard much about how his meeting went, so I wouldn't think he's a frontrunner.
Michael Malone, Warriors assistant: Interviewed on May 8th. Malone is considered one of the top potential head coaches available, and also has has some interest in the Trail Blazers job.
Nate McMillan, former Trail Blazers coach: Interviewed on May 22nd. One of the more high-profile candidates, McMillan has ties to the Charlotte area, having played college ball at NC State.
Brian Shaw, Pacers assistant: The Bobcats are in the process of setting up an interview with Shaw, who wanted to wait until the Pacers' season ended to explore coaching opportunities. The Magic also figure to have strong interest in the Indiana assistant.
Stephen Silas, Bobcats assistant: Interviewed on May 21st. Paul Silas was hoping his son would take over for him, but I'd be pretty shocked if the Bobcats went in this direction.
Jerry Sloan, former Jazz coach: Interviewed on May 25th. Sloan said his interview went well but that he didn't receive an offer and he expected the Bobcats to meet with more candidates.
Quin Snyder, Lakers assistant: The Bobcats plan to meet with Snyder sometime before the NBA pre-draft camp in Chicago.
Nate Tibbetts, Cavaliers assistant: Interviewed on May 14th. Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving had high praise for the Cavs assistant, which suggests Tibbetts is adept at working with young talent.
Stan Van Gundy, former Magic coach: The Bobcats are expected to at least reach out to Van Gundy, if they haven't already. However, it continues to look like the ex-Magic coach will take a year off.

In McMillan and Sloan, the Bobcats have interviewed a pair of respected veteran coaches, but the team has also sought out under-the-radar options and up-and-coming assistants. I expect the search to wrap up sometime in mid-June, and considering their wide list of candidates, it'll be interesting to see which direction Michael Jordan and the Bobcats go.

Bianchi On Shaq, Brian Shaw, Stan Van Gundy

May 25th, 2012 at 8:44pm CST by Daniel Seco

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel eloquently deconstructs the candidacy of Shaquille O'Neal for the Magic general manager position in his latest column. Not only does his admonish the media for making Shaq's interest in the position far greater than it ended up being but he also gets in a dig at the future Hall of Famer for removing his name from consideration by stating "This is not a job I have an interest in pursuing." Bianchi says that's the equivalent of him stating he'd have no interest in pursuing Bill Simmons' gig at ESPN or in simpler Hoops Rumors terms, Paul Silas claiming no interest in coaching the 1995/1996 Bulls.

Bianchi says Brian Shaw is his odds-on pick as the most likely candidate to become the next head coach of the Magic. Shaw nearly succeeded Phil Jackson after his retirement from the Lakers last offseason but fell short of landing the job as Mike Brown beat him out for the position. The former guard spent the 2011/2012 season as Frank Vogel's associate head coach for the Pacers, who finished the regular season with a 42-24 record and kept the second round of the playoffs heavily competitive against the Heat.

Bianchi predicts it won't be long before Stan Van Gundy is once again sweating on the sidelines while drawing up plays in the huddle, especially when he's getting support from former top executives like Steve Kerr. "If I need a coach, I'm getting on the phone with Stan Van Gundy. He's one of the best in the league." Look for SVG to rebound with a team like Clippers or Trail Blazers if he's interested in coaching this upcoming season rather than settle for a lesser job with the Bobcats.

Odds & Ends: Iverson, Clippers, Mavericks, Shaq

May 23rd, 2012 at 10:44pm CST by Alex Lee

The 76ers defeated the Celtics tonight in an ugly, defensive affair to force a Game 7 on Saturday night in Boston. Early in the game, an ESPN reporter spoke with Allen Iverson who was in town to deliver the game ball to tonight's referees. Iverson said he still wants to play basketball, whether in the NBA or elsewhere. Here are other links from late Wednesday night:

Arash Markazi and Pedro Moura from ESPN Los Angeles give their differing takes on whether Clippers stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin will be teamed up in LA for the remainder of their careers.
Derek Page of HoopsWorld says that for the Mavericks, in lieu of letting key pieces of their championship team leave via free agency, anything in the offseason short of Deron Williams would deem that decision a "momentous mistake." Meanwhile, Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News says via chat that Pau Gasol would not be a good fit in Dallas.
Speaking of Deron Williams, Colin Stephenson of the Newark Star Ledger examined the Nets offseason uncertainties outside of their potential free-agent-to-be point guard. The Nets have only four players that are guaranteed to be under contact for next year's Brooklyn debut.
The Bird Rights hearing between the NBA and NBA Players Association will be in mid-June, says Ian Begley of ESPN New York, citing an unnamed source. Begley notes that the Knicks will be particularly impacted due to waiver pickups of Steve Novak and Jeremy Lin.
The 2012 Olympic schedule for Team USA was unveiled, according to Chris Sheridan of Sheridan Hoops.
ESPN's Chris Broussard and Marc Stein offer their takes on Shaq as a potential fit as the future general manager of the Magic. Broussard says Shaq has acted as a mentor to Dwight Howard throughout the season as they apparently bonded over their dislike for Stan Van Gundy. Hiring O'Neal could be an attempt to persuade Howard to stay. Meanwhile, despite previous reports, Broussard adds that the Bobcats will in fact reach out to Van Gundy.

Odds & Ends: Shaq, Howard, Nets, Bobcats

May 23rd, 2012 at 7:07pm CST by Luke Adams

As the Celtics prepare to try to eliminate the Sixers tonight in Philadelphia, let's check out a few links from around the NBA:

Chris Broussard said on ESPN's NBA Countdown that Shaquille O'Neal could meet with the Magic brass next week about their general manager opening, via Marc Stein's Twitter. That would certainly be an interesting scenario given the Howard situation.
Jarrod Rudolph of RealGM.com wonders if the Magic/Dwight Howard mess has become about saving face for the team. Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel, meanwhile, thinks the Magic need to give Howard a draft-day deadline to decide on his future.
Nets GM Billy King spoke to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News about former Magic GM Otis Smith, Dwight Howard, and the upcoming draft lottery.
In an Insider piece for ESPN.com, John Hollinger lists a few players whose free agent stock has declined in the postseason. Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors has been tracking playoff performances by free agents in his Money Time feature, and many of the players he names overlap with Hollinger's picks.
The Bobcats haven't approached Stan Van Gundy about their head coach opening and he's unlikely to be interested anyway, tweets Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
Josh Cohen of OrlandoMagic.com proposes a few trade ideas he thinks could make sense this summer.
Salary cap expert Larry Coon fielded a numer of readers' questions in a HoopsWorld chat today.

Odds & Ends: Magic, Van Gundy, Nets

May 22nd, 2012 at 10:38pm CST by Sean Highkin

The latest news and notes from around the NBA on Tuesday night:

Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel speculates that the Magic will look for an experienced, patient general manager to replace Otis Smith.
The Oregonian's John Canzano likes the idea of Stan Van Gundy as the coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, but cautions that on-court talent should be the team's main focus.
Fred Kerber of the New York Post relays Nets coach Avery Johnson's optimism that the team will make the playoffs in 2012/13.

Coaching Rumors: Woodson, Del Negro, Magic

May 22nd, 2012 at 9:44am CST by Luke Adams

Another job on an NBA bench opened up yesterday, when Orlando officially fired long-time coach Stan Van Gundy. The Magic and the Bobcats are now the only two clubs searching for a new head coach, but there's no guarantee they won't be joined by another couple teams as the offseason progresses. Here are the latest updates on the NBA's coaching carousel:

After a report yesterday indicated that Mike Woodson and the Knicks were nearing an agreement, Marc Berman of the New York Post says the deal should be announced sometime "this week."
Clippers GM Neil Olshey hasn't committed one way or the other to bringing back Vinny Del Negro for next season, as Billy Witz of FOX Sports writes. However, a source tells Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld that he believes the Clips will explore other coaching options.
Van Gundy will be in demand, and the next team to hire him will be very lucky, writes Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. Schmitz adds though that Van Gundy is leaning toward sitting out next season.
Charley Rosen of HoopsHype examines some potential candidates to replace Van Gundy in Orlando, noting that Nate McMillan could be the best fit for the Magic.

Bobcats Notes: McMillan, Bickerstaff, Van Gundy

May 21st, 2012 at 5:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

Earlier today we heard that Nate McMillan is in the midst of a two-day interview with the Bobcats for their coaching vacancy. Here's more from the Queen City:

McMillan has an advocate in former Bobcats coach and GM Bernie Bickerstaff, as Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes.
Bonnell believes the Magic's firing of Stan Van Gundy today could harm the Bobcats' search, since the Magic job is probably more attractive (Twitter link).
Mike Tokito of The Oregonian seconds that thought, arguing that the Magic could be a more enticing destination for McMillan. He also speculates whether McMillan could wind up with the Clippers and Wizards.
One coach the Bobcats wouldn't have to compete over with the Magic is Van Gundy, and Bonnell looks at how the former Magic boss would fit in Charlotte. Bonnell hears that Van Gundy may prefer to sit out the coming season rather than take another job right away.