Stanley A. "Stan" Van Gundy (born August 26, 1959) is the
head coachA head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
of the
National Basketball AssociationThe National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
's
Orlando MagicThe Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...
. From 2003 to 2005, he was the head coach of the
Miami HeatThe Miami Heat is a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. The team is a member of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . They play their home games at American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami...
but resigned in 2005 mid-season, turning the job over to
Pat RileyPatrick James "Pat" Riley is an American professional basketball executive, and a retired coach and player in the NBA. Currently, he is team president of the Miami Heat. Widely regarded as one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time, Riley has served as the head coach of five championship teams...
. He is the brother of former
New York KnicksThe New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
and
Houston RocketsThe Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
coach
Jeff Van GundyJeffrey William "Jeff" Van Gundy is a former American basketball head coach. He coached most recently with the National Basketball Association's Houston Rockets...
.
College coaching
Van Gundy began his coaching career as an assistant coach at the
University of VermontThe University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...
, 1981–83, and was head coach at
Castleton State CollegeCastleton State College is a public liberal arts college located in Castleton in the U.S. state of Vermont. Castleton has an enrollment of 2000 students and offers more than 30 undergraduate programs as well as master’s degrees in education...
(VT) for three seasons. After serving as an assistant coach at
Canisius CollegeCanisius College is a private Roman Catholic college in Buffalo, New York, United States. The college was founded in 1870 by members of the Society of Jesus from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. The college is one of 28 institutions in the Association of Jesuit Colleges and...
in 1987 and
Fordham UniversityFordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
in 1988, Van Gundy was named head coach at
UMass LowellThe University of Massachusetts Lowell is a public university in Lowell, Massachusetts, and part of the University of Massachusetts system...
and spent four seasons there, where he compiled a record of 54-60 and coached Leo Parent, whom Van Gundy called "the best Division 2 player in the nation."
Van Gundy then became an assistant at the University of Wisconsin under Stu Jackson (later NBA Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations), and then became head coach at UW.
Overall, Van Gundy compiled a record of 135-92 (.595) in eight years as a college head coach.
Miami Heat
Van Gundy spent twelve years with the Heat organization, beginning as an Assistant Coach to Pat Riley in 1995.
After working as an assistant under coaching legend
Pat RileyPatrick James "Pat" Riley is an American professional basketball executive, and a retired coach and player in the NBA. Currently, he is team president of the Miami Heat. Widely regarded as one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time, Riley has served as the head coach of five championship teams...
, Van Gundy was named head coach when Riley abruptly resigned as coach prior to the 2003–04 season. However, Riley remained on as President of the team. Van Gundy took over a team that had won 25 games the previous season. He led them to a 42-win season, in which they won a very high percentage of their late season games and surprised many by advancing to the second round of the
2004 NBA PlayoffsThe 2004 NBA Playoffs were the postseason of the National Basketball Association's 2003–04 season. Consisting of 16 teams in two conferences, the playoffs involved about two months of play. The playoffs were conducted in seven-game series, with the team with the better record holding home court...
, nearly defeating the team with the league's best record, the
Indiana PacersThe Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...
, due to the strong play of rookie
Dwyane WadeDwyane Tyrone Wade, Jr. nicknamed Flash or D-Wade, is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat. Awarded 2006 Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated, Wade has established himself as one of the most well-known and popular players in the league...
.
During the off-season,
Shaquille O'NealShaquille Rashaun O'Neal , nicknamed "Shaq" , is a former American professional basketball player. Standing tall and weighing , he was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA...
demanded a trade and made Miami the only viable option for the Lakers to make a transaction with. Riley gave up
Caron ButlerJames Caron Butler, widely known as Caron Butler , is an American professional basketball player who most recently played at small forward for the NBA's Dallas Mavericks.-Early life:...
,
Lamar OdomLamar Joseph Odom is an American professional basketball forward with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association.-Early life:...
,
Brian GrantBrian Wade Grant is a retired American basketball player. He played the power forward and center positions for five teams during 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association. He was known for his tenacious rebounding and blue-collar defense...
and a future first-round
draftA draft is a process used in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Russia and the Philippines to allocate certain players to sports teams. In a draft, teams take turns selecting from a pool of eligible players...
choice, replacing three of the team's starters, including an Olympian and a future all star, with O'Neal. The Heat ended the first half of the season with the best record in the
Eastern ConferenceThe Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association is made up of fifteen teams, organized in three divisions of five teams each.The three division winners and the non-division winner with the best record are seeded 1 through 4 for the playoffs in order of their records, with all...
, allowing Van Gundy to become the first Heat coach to coach in the
All-Star GameThe 2005 NBA All-Star Game was a major basketball game played on February 20, 2005 at Pepsi Center home of Denver Nuggets featuring the best players in the National Basketball Association as selected by fans and coaches....
, leading the East to a victory. The Heat finished the season with 59 wins, earning the best record in the conference.
The Heat went on to advance to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to the
Detroit PistonsThe Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
. Injuries played a factor in their defeat, particularly a rib injury to leading scorer Wade during Game 5, which prevented him from playing Game 6 and severely hindered him in Game 7, both Piston wins. During the 2005 off-season, it was widely speculated (with no evidence) that Pat Riley was attempting to run Van Gundy out of his coaching job after Van Gundy had led the team to a position of dominance after Riley had abruptly abandoned it less than two years earlier. Whether or not these rumors were valid (and, indeed, Miami sportswriter Dan LeBatard has said Van Gundy resigned by choice and was not in fact forced out by Riley), Van Gundy indeed resigned from his position as head coach on December 12, 2005.
Van Gundy had a winning percentage of .605 with the Heat (112–73).
Orlando Magic
In May 2007, Van Gundy received an offer to replace the fired
Rick CarlisleRichard Preston Carlisle is the head coach of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. He has also coached the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons, and was previously a player in the NBA. He is also one of the only 11 people to win an NBA championship both as a player and as a coach.-Playing career:Carlisle...
as head coach of the
Indiana PacersThe Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...
. Van Gundy turned down the offer, but began interviewing for other head coaching jobs. He was considered a lead candidate to become head coach of the
Orlando MagicThe Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...
and also the
Sacramento KingsThe Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are currently members of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
. However, the Magic hired
Billy DonovanWilliam John "Billy" Donovan, Jr. is an American college basketball coach and a former college and professional basketball player. Donovan is the current head coach of the Florida Gators men's basketball team of the University of Florida...
. Shortly thereafter, Donovan decided he wanted to back out of the deal and return to the
University of FloridaThe University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
. Finally on June 5, 2007, the Magic released Donovan and offered another contract to Van Gundy. ESPN SportsCenter has reported that the
HeatThe Miami Heat is a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. The team is a member of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . They play their home games at American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami...
allowed Van Gundy to coach the Magic in exchange for a second-round draft pick in 2007 and the right to swap first-round picks in 2008 or another 2008 second-round draft pick and cash.
In Van Gundy's first season with the Magic, he guided them to a 52-win season, earning the team's first division championship since the 1995–96 season, and the third-best record in the Eastern Conference. Orlando defeated the
Toronto RaptorsThe Toronto Raptors are a professional basketball team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1995, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies, as part of the NBA's re-expansion...
4–1 in the first round of the
playoffsThe 2008 NBA Playoffs was the postseason for the National Basketball Association's 2007–08 season which ended with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers 4–2....
, advancing to the Eastern Semifinals for the first time in twelve seasons. They were later defeated in the Eastern Semifinals by the Detroit Pistons 4–1.
More success was found in the 2008–09 season. The Magic won 59 games, second most in franchise history, along with a second consecutive division championship. After defeating the team with the league's best record that season, the
Cleveland CavaliersThe Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team...
, the Magic won the Eastern Conference Finals in six games, advancing to the
NBA FinalsThe 2009 NBA Finals was the National Basketball Association championship series for the 2008-09 season. The best-of-seven playoff was contested between the Los Angeles Lakers, champions of the Western Conference and defending Western Conference champions, and the Orlando Magic, champions of the...
for the first time since 1995 to face the
Los Angeles LakersThe Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
, but lost the series in five games.
Also during the 2008–09 season, a bit of a feud developed between Van Gundy and
Phoenix SunsThe Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...
center, and former Magic/Heat player,
Shaquille O'NealShaquille Rashaun O'Neal , nicknamed "Shaq" , is a former American professional basketball player. Standing tall and weighing , he was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA...
(the two were together when O'Neal played for the Heat and Van Gundy was his coach). After a game between the Suns and Magic, Van Gundy said O'Neal was
floppingIn basketball, flop is a pejorative term that refers to a defensive player intentionally falling backward to the floor upon physical contact with an offensive player. The hope is that it will appear to the official that the defensive player was knocked off of his feet by the offensive player's...
throughout the night. O'Neal fired back by calling Van Gundy "a master of panic," because Van Gundy was not successful in the playoffs per O'Neal. Despite everything, O'Neal was actually in attendance at Amway Arena on the night the Magic played Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Magic extended Van Gundy's contract through the 2010–11 season on September 28, 2009.
On January 31, 2010, Van Gundy was named the coach of the Eastern Conference All-Star team for the
2010 NBA All-Star GameThe 2010 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game between players selected from the National Basketball Association 's Western Conference and the Eastern Conference that was played on February 14, 2010 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. This game was the 59th edition...
, making it the second time he had been given the honor to coach an all-star team. He led the Eastern Confrence to victory for the second time.
Personal life
Van Gundy was born in
Indio, CaliforniaIndio is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, located in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, east of Riverside, and east of Los Angeles. It is about north of Mexicali, Baja California on the U.S.-Mexican border...
. Van Gundy and his wife, Kim, have four children, Shannon, Michael, Alison and Kelly.
Van Gundy grew up as a son of a basketball coach,
Bill Van GundyBill Van Gundy is a former American college basketball coach, most notable for being the father of Jeff Van Gundy and Stan Van Gundy, both of whom have served as head coaches in the National Basketball Association. Among other jobs, Bill Van Gundy held the position of head coach at Brockport...
, the former head coach at Brockport State University in
Western New YorkWestern New York is the westernmost region of the state of New York. It includes the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls, the surrounding suburbs, as well as the outlying rural areas of the Great Lakes lowlands, the Genesee Valley, and the Southern Tier. Some historians, scholars and others...
. His younger brother
Jeff Van GundyJeffrey William "Jeff" Van Gundy is a former American basketball head coach. He coached most recently with the National Basketball Association's Houston Rockets...
has coached several teams in the
NBAThe National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
as well. After Jeff became a member of the NBA on ABC's broadcast team, he was an analyst during the
2009 NBA FinalsThe 2009 NBA Finals was the National Basketball Association championship series for the 2008-09 season. The best-of-seven playoff was contested between the Los Angeles Lakers, champions of the Western Conference and defending Western Conference champions, and the Orlando Magic, champions of the...
while Stan coached the
Orlando MagicThe Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...
.
Head coaching record
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MIAThe Miami Heat is a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. The team is a member of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . They play their home games at American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami...
| align="left" |
|82||42||40||.512|| align="center" |2nd in Atlantic||13||6||7||.462
| align="center" |Lost in
Conf. SemifinalsThe 2004 NBA Playoffs were the postseason of the National Basketball Association's 2003–04 season. Consisting of 16 teams in two conferences, the playoffs involved about two months of play. The playoffs were conducted in seven-game series, with the team with the better record holding home court...
|-
| align="left" |MIA
| align="left" |
|82||59||23||.720|| align="center" |1st in Southeast||15||11||4||.733
| align="center" |Lost in
Conf. FinalsThe 2005 NBA Playoffs was the postseason of the National Basketball Association's 2004–05 season.The San Antonio Spurs, the number two ranked team in the Western Conference, won the 2005 NBA Playoffs by defeating the defending champions, the Detroit Pistons, 4-3 in the NBA Finals...
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| align="left" |MIA
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|21||11||10||.524|| align="center" |(resigned)||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |—
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ORLThe Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...
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|82||52||30||.634|| align="center" |1st in Southeast||10||5||5||.500
| align="center" |Lost in
Conf. SemifinalsThe 2008 NBA Playoffs was the postseason for the National Basketball Association's 2007–08 season which ended with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers 4–2....
|-
| align="left" |ORL
| align="left" |
|82||59||23||.720|| align="center" |1st in Southeast||24||13||11||.542
| align="center" |Lost in
NBA FinalsThe 2009 NBA Finals was the National Basketball Association championship series for the 2008-09 season. The best-of-seven playoff was contested between the Los Angeles Lakers, champions of the Western Conference and defending Western Conference champions, and the Orlando Magic, champions of the...
|-
| align="left" |ORL
| align="left" |
|82||59||23||.720|| align="center" |1st in Southeast||14||10||4||.714
| align="center" |Lost in
Conf. FinalsThe 2010 NBA Playoffs was the postseason for the National Basketball Association's 2009–10 season. The playoffs started on April 17, 2010 with ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, and NBA TV broadcasting the games in the United States...
|-
| align="left" |ORL
| align="left" |
|82||52||30||.634|| align="center" |2nd in Southeast||6||2||4||.333
| align="center" |Lost in
First RoundThe 2011 NBA Playoffs was the postseason for the National Basketball Association's 2010–11 season. Eight teams from each of the league's two conferences qualified for the playoffs, all seeded 1 to 8 in a tournament bracket, with all rounds in a best-of-seven format. The 2011 NBA Playoffs began on...
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Career
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