Former NBA head coach Stan Van Gundy, most recently coach and team president of the Detroit Pistons, has reportedly agreed to join ESPN according to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post. Van Gundy was relieved of his duties in Detroit this past offseason, replaced by Dwane Casey. The Post says Van Gundy will be a studio analyst across multiple NBA programming.
Stan Van Gundy confirmed his move to ESPN to J.D. Shaw of Def Pen Hoops, but did not specify what his role will be with the organization.
The two sides have been at odds before, most-recently last season when the network published a piece ripping Lakers coach Luke Walton. Van Gundy called the piece “cheap (expletive)” and “showed total disrespect” toward Walton. It got so bad the Van Gundy threatened to boycott the network by not participating in interviews when ESPN broadcasted a Pistons game.
Back in 2012, Stan Van Gundy was supposed to join ESPN too. However, the deal fell through. The reasoning why, however, is murky. The 59-year-old felt then NBA Commissioner David Stern blocked the deal. Van Gundy went on a Miami radio show to voice his displeausre with the situation, saying that ESPN is lying and their reason for backing out of the deal is “a bunch of BS”.
Fast forward to now and the air appears to be cleared. Though there has not been a formal announcement from Van Gundy nor ESPN yet, it appears this time everything will go through. Stan’s brother, Jeff Van Gundy, is part of the play-by-play team with Mike Breen and Mark Jackson.
