A pair of former NBA coaches turned broadcasters appear to be on the outside looking in as the league's coaching carousel spins.
Basketball analysts Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy remain prominent voices of the sport while calling primetime games for ESPN and ABC -- and seem to turn up on speculative lists when coaching jobs open up every year.
But neither Jackson, the former Knicks star and Warriors coach, nor Van Gundy, the former Knicks and Rockets coach, has been strongly linked to any current or recently filled vacancies.
Several seemingly prime jobs have come off the board recently, with the Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls, and Philadelphia 76ers all making splashy hires. The Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers and New Orleans Pelicans roles were still open as of Friday, however.
The announcers were asked about the apparent disinterest in their services during a media conference call for the NBA Finals on Thursday.
Jackson, for his part, wasn't shy about wanting another opportunity.
"Obviously it’s an incredible job we have and we’re blessed and fortunate to be able to call another NBA Finals," Jackson said. "I think coaching is in both of our veins, and we look forward to the day — I know I can speak for myself and say I look forward to the day that I’m coaching again, but I’m having a blast."
Van Gundy was less forthright about his own hopes, but Jackson, a Brooklyn native and St. John's product, had high praise for his colleague.
"What I will say is, we’re not in position to hire, so we have no control over that. I know if I was hiring, without a doubt Jeff Van Gundy would be my hire. He’s a brilliant basketball mind, an incredible basketball coach. I’m speaking of a guy that sat in a chair and watched him lead a team as my head coach. So I look forward to him having an opportunity, if that’s what he wants, because the game certainly needs his brilliance from that side because we witnessed it firsthand from this side long enough in my opinion."
Van Gundy, who last coached the Houston Rockets in 2007, reciprocated the praise -- and wondered aloud why Jackson hadn't gotten a second coaching opportunity after posting a winning record with the Warriors and by most accounts laying the groundwork for the championships they later won under Steve Kerr.
"I would say one of the most confounding things that I’ve run into in the NBA is the power brokers to be, how Mark is not being interviewed for every job," Van Gundy said. "The job he did in Golden State was tremendous, and just like with Steve Nash, I don’t discount playing experience. Long playing careers should not hurt you from getting coaching jobs, they should help you, because the experiences of particularly really bright players that play is a great, great teacher to many of the things that you’re going to confront as a head coach."
Jackson has been off the sidelines for over a half-decade now, last coaching the Warriors in 2014.
The former first-round draft pick of the Knicks, who had two stints as a player in New York, finished out with the Rockets in 2003-04, which was Van Gundy's first year at the helm in Houston.
Van Gundy was a longtime Knicks assistant, serving under several head coaches before taking over in 1996 after Don Nelson's brief two-year stint. He kept the Knicks competitive after their successful run in the early 90s, leading them to an NBA Finals appearance against the Spurs in 1998-99.
Van Gundy has remained active in US men's national basketball, coaching the team along with San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich in recent years.