What is Jeff Van Gundy’s Net Worth and Salary?
Jeff Van Gundy is an American basketball coach and TV analyst who has a net worth of $16 million. Jeff Van Gundy is best known as the former head coach of the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets but also gained fame as a color commentator on ESPN game telecasts.
Early Life
Born in Hemet, California, on January 19, 1962, Jeff William Van Gundy grew up in Brockport, New York, and is the son of a former college basketball coach. Jeff played point guard for Brockport Central and was a two-time All Greater Rochester selection in 1979 and 1980. Van Gundy attended Yale University but transferred twice before graduating from Nazareth College where he continued playing basketball. He began his coaching career in the mid-80s, coaching a Rochester-based high school basketball team. He then served as an assistant coach at multiple colleges, including Providence College and Rutgers.
New York Knicks
The New York Knicks hired Jeff Van Gundy as an assistant head coach on July 28, 1989. He would serve in this capacity over the next six-and-a-half years under head coaches Stu Jackson, John MacLeod, Pat Riley, and Don Nelson helping the team to three Atlantic Division titles while making the playoffs every year. He became head coach in 1996, and the team was highly successful under his command, consistently making the playoffs and advancing to Conference Finals and even the NBA Finals. Van Gundy was named the NBA All-Star game head coach in 2000. And just 19 games into the 2001-2002 season, Jeff Van Gundy unexpectedly resigned as head coach in the midst of a winning streak and coming off a 14-point win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
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Houston Rockets
On July 10, 2003, Jeff Van Gundy was named the head coach of the Houston Rockets. The team made the playoffs in his first year but lost in the first round to the Los Angeles Lakers. During the 2005-2006 season, Van Gundy was fined $100,000 by the NBA for accusing referees of targeting Houston Rockets center Yao Ming. It was the largest fine handed down by the NBA to a coach. Overall, he was less successful with the Rockets than he was in New York, with injuries to star players Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady greatly contributing to this. After a decisive Game 7 loss in the first round of the 2007 playoffs, Van Gundy was fired.
National Team
In Jeff’s first coaching job since leaving the Rockets in 2007, Van Gundy was selected as the head coach of the senior United States men’s national basketball team leading the US to the gold medal at the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup. He also helped coach the national team to qualify for the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China.
Personal Life
Jeff’s older brother, Stan Van Gundy, was also an NBA coach. Stan led the Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, New Orleans Pelicans, and Detroit Pistons before becoming the director of basketball operations for Detroit.
Jeff Van Gundy served as an executive board member of Pro-Vision Academy, a charter school and non-profit organization in Houston that provided mentorship, job-training, and educational services to young boys and girls. On May 8, 2011, during Nazareth College’s 84th Annual Commencement Ceremony, Van Gundy was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.