Now The Stan Van Gundy Sweepstakes Are Heating Up

Jilted by ESPN, Stan Van Gundy has moved down the road to NBC. The former Magic coach signed on to work NBC Sports Network’s first college basketball game of the season and to serve as a contributor to the new NBC Sports Radio Network. It remains to be seen if he does more college games.

It will be a night of firsts as we launch the college basketball season with this inaugural event and the debut of Stan in a national-television booth,” said Dan Steir , SVP, Production, and Senior Coordinating Producer, NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network. “When you talk and listen to Stan he just oozes so much candid opinion, knowledge and passion for the game of basketball. This is the perfect way for us to start the college basketball season in a year in which we will televise more games than ever before on NBC Sports Network. What a way to celebrate a sport and honor our Veterans.”

Just like when his brother Jeff stepped down in NY, Stan has been mulling this decision since the offseason. Even Stan himself said that in the offseason, everything is fine since he got to see his family more regularly. Remarkably, the sound bite Stan Van Gundy gave was eerily similar to what his brother said just a few years before, “I mean, it’s been like that for my kids’ entire lives. I’ve got a 14-year-old daughter and it started to hit me when I started thinking about her birthday, which was last month. I’ve got four more years left with her. Four.

Without a coach, a general manager or even an identity, the rudderless Detroit Pistons have been stuck in windless waters since the end of 2013-14. This changed in a flash on Tuesday, when news broke that the Pistons were nearing a deal with Stan Van Gundy to take a comprehensive role in both the big chair and the front office alike Van Gundy will be the next Head Coach and President of Basketball Operations in Detroit, a bold step for the franchise and an uncommon sign of trust in its next Head Coach. A Record of Success with Talented Big Men.

That Stan Van Gundy decided to step down due to personal reasons should not be in doubt. As always, Van Gundy kept his views honest and made them public without any fear whatsoever. As a coach, he was no different. But the blame must be cast on the veteran leadership of this team. If in fact they had tuned Stan Van Gundy out to the point that it forced him to retire (since Stan saw that he wasn’t reaching the players and it was his duty to do so) then shame on them. They certainly weren’t endorsing him with their silence.
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