Jeff Van Gundy added to the Celtics’ employees as a senior advisor

Celtics

Van Gundy was a head coach within the NBA for over a decade previous to turning into a broadcaster for the final 16 seasons.

Jeff Van Gundy reportedly mentioned a training position with the Celtics over the offseason. (Jim Davis/Globe Workers)

The Celtics have employed one other veteran coach to their employees.

Jeff Van Gundy has been employed by the workforce as a senior advisor. The information of Van Gundy’s hiring was first found on social media Saturday morning, with Van Gundy being listed as a senior advisor on the Celtics’ web site.

“Superior,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla advised reporters of the workforce’s hiring of Van Gundy on Saturday. “Any time you get so as to add like excessive character, excessive stage, skilled folks, I feel it’s a no brainer and so lucky sufficient that he’s right here, not only for the teaching employees, however for everyone.

“It’s good to get a man who hasn’t been right here earlier than that may form of have an unbiased opinion as to the place he thinks issues are and the place they should go. And so he’s form of like a contemporary set of eyes … he’s it from an unbiased place.”

Van Gundy received’t be on the Celtics’ bench throughout video games, like different coaches. As a substitute, he’ll assist work within the basketball operations division for the Celtics, which incorporates working with the Maine Celtics.

Whereas the Celtics’ addition of Van Gundy appeared to come back out of the blue with the preseason underway, Boston was linked as being a doable suitor for the long-time coach over the offseason. The Celtics had been considered one of a minimum of three groups that spoke with Van Gundy about including him to their teaching employees in some capability, Sports activities Illustrated’s Chris Mannix reported in early July.

Regardless that he has an extended historical past working as a coach, many NBA followers probably know Van Gundy from his days as a broadcaster. He served on ESPN’s lead NBA broadcast workforce for the final 16 seasons, calling the NBA Finals every year earlier than he was part of the corporate’s mass layoffs in June.

Previous to becoming a member of ESPN, Van Gundy served as the top coach of the Knicks and Rockets. He had success in each stops. He helped New York attain the NBA Finals in 1999 as a No. 8 seed and went 248-172 over his seven seasons as coach earlier than resigning throughout the 2001-02 season. He joined the Rockets in 2003, recording profitable seasons in three of his 4 years in Houston earlier than getting fired.

Van Gundy wasn’t solely away from teaching although throughout his time as a broadcaster.  He was the top coach of america males’s nationwide basketball workforce on the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup Event and for the qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA World Cup. Van Gundy additionally served as an assistant for the nationwide workforce within the 2019 FIBA World Cup and the 2020 Summer season Olympics, teaching Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Jrue Vacation throughout these tournaments.

The Celtics remade their teaching employees over the offseason after a number of assistants departed to both re-join Ime Udoka (who now coaches the Rockets) or for jobs elsewhere. Joe Mazzulla and the workforce employed Charles Lee and Sam Cassell, who served because the Bucks and 76ers’ lead assistants lately, respectively. Additionally they added a pair of youthful, former gamers on the employees in Phil Pressey and Amile Jefferson to the employees.