Losing Jeff Van Gundy could create a serious void within the Clippers' staff.
More and more teams are checking in on Los Angeles Clippers' lead assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy to fulfill head coaching vacancies and with a growing list of suitors comes the likelier possibility that Van Gundy can be swayed away from the Clippers, which leaves Los Angeles in a difficult position.
Ty Lue may be the head coach of the team and faces the media on the direction of the team for better and for worse and he does call the shots when it comes to X's and O's, but Van Gundy is a vital presence as well within the locker room both as a communicator.
On top of that, Van Gundy's own technical acumen makes a huge impact on the team. His contributions on the defensive end were felt immediately when he was hired by the team in 2024.
Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue (left) with assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy against the Phoenix Suns at the Mortgage Matchup Center. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn ImagesVan Gundy's Impact
From the 2023-24 season to 2024-25, Van Gundy's first season with the team, they made a massive jump in essentially every defensive category and ascended to become one of the top defenses in the NBA.
Granted, the Clippers' place in most of those same defensive categories took a major step back this past season, but so did the offensive side of things for the Clippers considering their difficult start to the season that, although they recovered record-wise, made a major impact on their overall season statistics.
Even with that drop, the Clippers were still had the 10th-least points in the paint allowed and the 12th-least fast break points allowed, both of which are a credit to Van Gundy's coaching.
The value that he brings technically as a coach will be more important now than ever for the Clippers as they're in the midst of a rebuild and could have a completely revamped roster by the start of next season.
Who's Looking at Van Gundy?
Missing Van Gundy would be a huge shakeup within the Clippers' locker room that, even though the team will have the constancy of Lue at the helm, still definitely be felt.
The two teams that have been linked to Van Gundy for a head coaching search are the Portland Trail Blazers and the Orlando Magic.
Van Gundy has a connection to Orlando in the sense that his brother Stan Van Gundy was head coach of the team for a number of seasons, but losing Van Gundy to Portland would place him in charge of a conference rival to the Clippers, which makes things difficult in it's own way.
