Jeff Van Gundy highly interested in return to Rockets

Jeff Van Gundy may be eight years removed from being an NBA head coach but is ‘highly interested’ in going back to the Houston Rockets.

According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, former NBA head coach with the New York Knicks (1995-02) and the Houston Rockets (2003-07) “would indeed be highly interested in a return to Houston if that job opens up as expected.”

Van Gundy hasn’t been an NBA head coach since he was with Houston during the 2006-07 NBA season, where the Rockets went 52-30. In the years since his days coaching in Houston, Van Gundy has carved out a strong role as a basketball television analyst for NBA games on ESPN.

Now that his older brother Stan Van Gundy has again found success as an NBA head coach with the Detroit Pistons, perhaps the former defensive guru is ready to get back into coaching in the NBA.

Van Gundy has one of the most impressive coaching trees in the NBA today. Disciples like Steve Clifford, Tom Thibodeau, Doc Rivers, and Monty Williams have all been NBA head coaches. He coached Patrick Ewing while with the Knicks and now the Basketball Hall of Fame big man is well on his way to becoming an NBA head coach in his own right.

While with Houston, Van Gundy went 182-146 in four NBA regular seasons and went 7-12 in three Western Conference Playoff appearances. No doubt that Van Gundy has had a massive impact in the way the NBA is being coached today but is he ready to get back on the sidelines after a successful stint on television? Has the game passed him by in the meantime?

Houston is still clinging on to dear life in the first round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs as the .500 No. 8 seed that has to deal with the top-seeded 73-9 Golden State Warriors. Former Rockets head coach Kevin McHale was fired after a slow start and it doesn’t seem that management will remove the interim tag on head coach J.B. Bickerstaff moving forward.

Houston is reportedly choosing between Van Gundy and former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks for the job, with Brooks as their first choice. However, Brooks will have to decide between Houston and the Eastern Conference’s Washington Wizards, who also tab him as their leading candidate for their head coaching vacancy.

While Houston can’t replace Bickerstaff until Houston is swept by the Warriors in round one, it seems that both Brooks and Van Gundy have a great deal of interest in running this on-court chemistry nightmare that general manager Daryl Morey put together in a vacuum.

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