At every step of his media career, Stan Van Gundy has been a surprise.
When he joined ESPN in 2018, Van Gundy was best known for his recurring role on The Dan Le Batard Show and as the brother of the sport’s lead game analyst. Yet Van Gundy proved to be an important studio voice at the Worldwide Leader; networks love to have a coach in the mix, but finding one who can communicate effectively and be entertaining often proves difficult.
The elder Van Gundy was promising enough that TNT Sports poached him after just one season, with plans to make him a game analyst. But Van Gundy only lasted a single season there, as a surprise hire to coach the New Orleans Pelicans.
Another one-year stint as Pelicans coach later, Van Gundy returned to TNT. Even then, the coach acknowledged he had room to grow, calling games, telling reporters that he appreciated the feedback he received from play-by-play partner Ian Eagle and producers. Van Gundy’s instincts about TNT proved true, as he grew into the network’s No. 2 game analyst for the NBA and one of the lead commentators for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
When TNT lost NBA rights last year, Van Gundy was in the wilderness for a while before Prime Video snatched him up. The streamer was murky about the hierarchy of its announce teams, but ultimately reunited the coach with Eagle on its top crew.
Now nearly a decade into his NBA broadcasting career, Van Gundy has been a surprise once again this season, evolving not only into a worthy No. 1 at Prime Video but the best working NBA game analyst, a confident communicator who clearly knows the difference between commentating and actually calling a game.
Van Gundy often shared the call this season with Steve Nash or Dwyane Wade, retired legends not yet fully enmeshed with Prime. The balance is more natural than that of many other current NBA booths because Van Gundy, a coach, knows his place and when to cede the moment to the former players.
That self-awareness is what makes Van Gundy great. While strong in the studio or in interview settings for print or podcasts, Van Gundy excels as a broadcaster because he sees the game unfold before the audience. If the best point guards are coaches on the court, Van Gundy is a coach in your ear.
The level of focus Van Gundy brings to a broadcast can make for unexpected observations, like when he claimed a referee had it out for Nikola Jokic or warned announcer Michael Grady not to use the word “alien” about a foreign-born player like Victor Wembanyama, but it enriches the viewing experience. Van Gundy calls out a coaching decision or a change in game flow faster than players may even adjust to them. And he knows when to bring levity or humor to a lighter moment.
In his early days in media, Van Gundy would often go too far toward silliness or be too bold. Many of his broadcasts felt like prolonged podcast appearances, and he made his biases known, earning a reputation (in record time) among NBA fans for hating Joel Embiid and loving Jokic.
Lately, though, Van Gundy appears to have found a balance. He plays off his announcers, whether Eagle or Kevin Harlan, for when to go for laughs, and he channels his strong opinions into moments when the game action calls for them. At a time when more players are entering media than ever before and so much of sports coverage is instinctively celebratory, Van Gundy isn’t shy about calling BS.
Sometimes, the coach simply uses language we’re not used to hearing from more uplifting commentators: Ja Morant spent too much of a game last year “crying“; the Kevin Durant-era Phoenix Suns played “pathetic” defense; Chet Holmgren put on a “big-time acting job” when he flopped in the Western Conference semifinals.
Perhaps part of the reason Van Gundy has risen to the mountaintop this year is that NBA broadcasting is so bereft of coaches. ESPN laid off Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson three years ago and now has no coaches on its announcing teams. Aside from Stan, Prime leaned toward big-named former NBA stars. At NBC, the only coach in the mix is Derek Fisher, who, with all due respect, hardly counts.
The industry has learned over and over that coaches are the best color commentators for basketball. Before the younger Van Gundy called 17 straight Finals for ESPN, he was preceded by Doc Rivers and Hubie Brown. Doug Collins called four Finals for NBC. Then there’s Mike Fratello and Tommy Heinsohn, and of course Dick Vitale and Bill Raftery for college. History shows a coach’s eye for the game is best suited to the fast pace and narrow margins of basketball.
As of now, both of Prime’s competitors are rolling with an older-player-younger-player mold that is perfectly serviceable but lacks authority. NBC’s Reggie Miller and ESPN’s Tim Legler are sharp at describing the action on the floor and bring experience, but they lack the situational focus Van Gundy possesses, as well as the comfort to go for a big take when the moment’s right.
Three-person booths are popular for basketball these days, which may explain why Prime Video has held off on crowning Van Gundy. By the time the streamer airs its first conference finals next season, either Wade or Nash may be elevated to the top booth.
But after a gradual creep into broadcasting and an uncertain starting role at Amazon, Van Gundy exits his debut season at the top of the craft.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.