Cocky-deprecating humor aside well-nigh his record, Jeff Van Gundy was a skillful professional person basketball coach. The fact that he has not gone back to an NBA bench since leaving the Houston Rockets in 2007 shows good judgment, too, because the league can exist a grind.

But the all-time part of JVG'due south career has been his time in broadcasting. Van Gundy'south stream-of-unconsciousness approach keeps blowouts interesting, and he's as skilful as it gets when information technology comes to breaking down strategy in close games aslope Mike Breen and Marker Jackson.

We find out now, even so, Van Gundy, 59, has been holding back. It's OK, though, because he promises to make up for it on his style out the door.

Jeff Van Gundy is outset his 15th season at ESPN

Former New York Knicks and Houston Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy dioes NBA analysis for ESPN and ABC. | Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
One-time New York Knicks and Houston Rockets caput coach Jeff Van Gundy dioes NBA analysis for ESPN and ABC. | Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Jeff Van Gundy is a autobus's kid, then his career path became inevitable. After playing some Division III ball, he coached on the staffs of guys like Rick Pitino and John MacLeod before landing in Pat Riley's coaching tree. He took the top task in the New York Knicks bench in early 1996 and later on coached the Houston Rockets.

In parts of 11 NBA seasons, he compiled records of 430-318 in the regular season and 44-44 in the playoffs. The Rockets fired Van Gundy after a first-round exit in the 2007 playoffs and, though his name had surfaced occasionally in speculation, he has resisted returning to the demote.

Rather, Van Gundy went into broadcasting at ESPN and ABC, doing analysis on a couple of games a week. He maintains his habitation base in Houston, which makes travel to either coast a petty less exhausting. And preparing for a couple of telecasts a calendar week beats breaking down picture, running practices, and coaching 3 nights a week.

His toughest job leading upwardly to each new season is fulfilling interview requests. As a quotable and at-times brutally honest interview subject, Van Gundy is in demand with radio, TV, and online outlets.

Jeff Van Gundy's goal: shorter NBA game to hold fans' interest

When the Atlanta Braves vanquish the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4, the other day in an MLB contest featuring just xiv hits only eleven walks, the game came in at but barely under four hours. Even a double-overtime NBA game takes much less fourth dimension than that, simply it's still not good plenty for Jeff Gundy.

If he could change annihilation about the NBA, he told Barrett Sports Media, Van Gundy would like to see regulation games fit into a tidy ii-hour window. Van Gundy signed a multi-year contract extension with ESPN this summer and would happily make the tradeoff of talking less per game but for more than years.

"I think we need to continue finding means to reduce stoppages of play from timeouts," he said. "I would either shorten or profoundly modify halftime. I think (the NBA has) to constantly wait for ways to shorten the viewing window and have as much action in that two-hour timeframe as (it) can."

Broadcast partner Mark Jackson expressed admiration in the aforementioned interview for the ESPN approach to Monday Night Football game that has retired NFL quarterbacks Eli and Payton Manning doing an culling audio feed in ESPN2 that is entirely conversational rather than analytical-slash-clinical.

JVG reveals the programme for his last NBA game on ESPN

The most frequent criticism of Jeff Van Gundy as a broadcaster is probably that he tin can be a curmudgeon. He longs for the way basketball game used to exist played, which is to say with fewer 28-foot shots and meliorate rebounding.

He generally comes across every bit genuine and honest, just Van Gundy has let sideslip in subtle fashion that he might not be the 100% frank NBA analyst that some assume. He pledges to set that on his way out the door.

Van Gundy told Barrett Sports Media that he wants a shot at doing an NBA game Manning-style in his final TV appearance.

"I desire to do one game, NBA on ESPN: The Entire Truth," he labeled information technology. "(We would) be able to tell the unabridged truth — non 90% of information technology, not fourscore% of information technology, only the whole truth, and cipher but the truth.

"I call back that would be an outstanding, one-time broadcast as I sign off and finish my career."

It would also guarantee a 100% share in the overnight ratings.

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