When Stan Van Gundy and the New Orleans Pelicans parted ways last month, Executive Vice President David Griffin professed the decision to be about "philosophical differences" uncovered in conversations following the season.
Van Gundy pulled back the curtain on some of those differences this week in an appearance on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz. The greatest disconnect, as Van Gundy tells it, centered around the approach to success on the court, compared to an emphasis on atmosphere around the team.
"To me it’s about how players perform and everything else. You know, it’d be great if everybody loved everything going on, but it’s not something that I would worry about too much," Van Gundy said. "But then again, I’m different maybe than they were and everything else. That’s one of the things I’m talking about not being on the same page. In the long run it’ll be better for everybody. You certainly need alignment between your coaching and your front office.”
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The team officially parted ways with its head coach in June, an NBA marriage that lasted just one season after the veteran was hired out the broadcast booth to replace the fired Alvin Gentry. Despite an ascendant second season from Zion Williamson and strong performances from Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and others, the team struggled to a record of 31-41, just one game better than the previous year with Gentry at the helm.
Van Gundy, who had revealed some more about his frustrations previously on the Stupidodity Podcast, was also asked about and potential difficulties managing such a young roster as a veteran coach, an idea that he downplayed as an issue that could've played into his departure.
"My whole roster was 23 or younger. What do you think, those guys want to hang out with me? No, they don’t. I don’t think they’re looking for that. So, give them more credit than that," Van Gundy said. "I don’t think they expect to be babied. I don’t like the idea that the players are so different than they ever were. They’re realizing the power that they had. I didn’t have a problem with any of my players. If they didn’t like the way I was coaching them, that’s up to them. But I didn’t have a problem with any of them.”
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The Pelicans are still in search of their next coach, with two of the reported leading candidates still actively coaching as the NBA Finals get underway Tuesday evening. Those names are Phoenix Suns assistant Willie Green and Milwaukee Bucks assistant Charles Lee. Several other names have surfaced throughout the search, but many have already landed in a head coaching job or have removed themselves from consideration.
“People have different views on coaching, what coaching is, how you judge coaching, you know, what’s important to you," Van Gundy said. "And it became clear as we were talking that we just didn’t view things the same way.”
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MORE FROM STAN VAN GUNDY
WHAT WAS THE CONVERSATIONS WHEN YOU GOT HIRED/WHAT CHANGED?
I think we were in a little different place as a team when I got hired, if you go back even to my press conference when I got it. I talked about one of the things I really liked was the combination they had on their roster of talented young guys and veteran guys. And the veteran guys went by the wayside quickly. I mean, Jrue Holiday was out the door, E’Twaun Moore was out the door. Kenrich Williams was out the door. Derrick Favors was out the door, and then JJ went halfway through the year. So we just became really, really, really young and we went into the year talking about it being all about winning, and that sort of changed as the year went on in some people’s minds, not in mine. And so it was a little bit different, just in terms of what the approach should have been. All the young guys got better. I think if you went back and look at the seven guys that we had the year before I got there, and how they played that year and how they played this year. Everybody made strides.
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DID THE PLAYERS JUST NOT CARE FOR TOUGH LOVE FROM A COACH?
“I’m sure that they didn’t and I’m sure that David Griffin got some feedback of that nature and the whole thing. And that’s one of the things, like, I just wouldn’t, to me, I don’t really worry about that a whole lot. To me it’s about how players perform and everything else. You know, it’d be great if everybody loved everything going on, but it’s not something that I would worry about too much. But then again, I’m different maybe than they were and everything else. That’s one of the things I’m talking about not being on the same page. In the long run it’ll be better for everybody. You certainly need alignment between your coaching and your front office. So it’ll be better for everybody, I think, and my wife and I will move on with our life and be very, very happy.”
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Follow Jeff Nowak on Twitter @Jeff_Nowak or contact him by email at jeffrey.nowak@audacy.com