On October 20, Jeff Van Gundy will be back in the booth with Mike Breen and Mark Jackson for another NBA season at ESPN. Van Gundy has been one of the lead analysts at ESPN since 2007 after being a head coach in the NBA from 1996-2007 with the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets.
Van Gundy was a guest on the most recent episode of the Sports Media With Richard Deitsch Podcast and he was asked by Deitsch why he feels he has lasted as long as he has in the broadcasting business. Van Gundy pointed to Tim Corrigan (senior coordinating producer for ESPN).
“It comes back to the people you work for. Upper management has changed a lot over time in my time at ESPN. The direct bosses have changed a lot. Tim Corrigan has been my boss ever since I’ve been there. His trust in what Mike, Mark, and I are doing has been appreciated. That doesn’t mean he never comes back at me and goes that was stupid or you can’t stay that. I like it. He’s both a friend and a boss and that’s a hard line to walk.”
As Jeff Van Gundy has done more games over the last 10+ years, he has tried to be more considerate of criticizing officials when he is on the air because he isn’t trying to be controversial on purpose.
“I think for a while when I first started maybe from my coaching background, whatever I saw from them, I would never let it go. Some in the NBA would say I need to do it a lot more. I was always astounded how personal people take it when you talk about officiating, but playing, they expect you to critique what’s going on and coaching moves.”
As an analyst, the most important thing Jeff Van Gundy tries to do is call the action how he sees it. When he does prep for upcoming broadcasts, he told Deitsch that he doesn’t try to focus on specific stats. Instead, he keeps his prep simple and looks for trends that stand out.
“I don’t really do a whole lot other than watch. I just like to watch. Like to watch games. I have a few friends I talk to in the NBA, but it’s not like I’m sitting there calling a lot of people….I would say it’s as simple as I think this is where a color guy has it really good. I’m not a stats guy. I don’t throw out a lot of stats. You have to find what you feel is best broadcasting-wise. I know the stats on the teams, but it’s not like I’m ever going to say this guy’s shooting 44% from three unless it’s something that stands out.”
Van Gundy’s first regular season game with fellow color-commentator Mark Jackson, play-by-play man Mike Breen, and sideline reporter Lisa Salters for the 2021-22 season will be on October 20 when the Knicks host the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden (7:30 pm ET, ESPN).