Stan Van Gundy remains one of the last prominent NBA broadcasters at TNT Sports without a secured position for the next season, as the network prepares to lose its NBA broadcast rights for the first time in thirty years. The former coach of the Heat, Magic, Pistons, and Pelicans has seen his broadcasting partners Ian Eagle and Kevin Harlan reportedly join Amazon, while fellow analyst Reggie Miller is headed to NBC.
As the NBA media musical chairs game nears its end, Van Gundy is keen to secure a new role for the 2025-26 season. Unlike his brother Jeff, who recently returned to the NBA as a consultant for the Boston Celtics and is now an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers after being laid off by ESPN in 2023, Stan is content to call games as long as he can. He discussed his career prospects on the latest episode of The Varsity podcast with Puck’s John Ourand.
“I hope to be working, I really want to be working, and I would love it to still be in the NBA,” Van Gundy remarked. “It’s what I know best, it’s what I think I do best. And I’m hoping that will work out with somebody.” He also calls NCAA tournament games for CBS as part of their partnership with TNT Sports during March Madness, having started his coaching career at UMass-Lowell and Wisconsin before being brought to South Florida by Pat Riley in the mid-1990s.
Van Gundy likens his search for a broadcasting position to competing for a coaching job following his departure from the Pelicans in 2021. “There are far more qualified and outstanding people than there are jobs,” he said. “So I’m not naive enough to think that, ‘Oh, look who I am and I did this and somebody will hire me.’” Despite acknowledging that his “addiction” to coaching might resurface if an NBA team approached him about a head coaching role, he doesn’t see himself moving away from broadcasting to take on a consulting or assistant coaching position anytime soon. While his brother has found success in coaching after winning a championship with the Celtics and quickly adapting in L.A., Van Gundy prefers to stay close to family in Florida and embrace the travel flexibility that broadcasting offers.
“I fully expect to be broadcasting for the rest of my professional career,” he stated. “I’m trying to be as good at it as I can, I’m trying to get better every day.” With Prime Video’s color commentary positions available, the ESPN booth is also under review. Although lead announcer Mike Breen recently received an extension, the network has yet to finalize a third member of the top booth and has been inconsistent regarding Doris Burke’s future. Richard Jefferson is rumored to be the leading candidate, but Van Gundy has previous experience at ESPN between coaching roles in Detroit and New Orleans. Furthermore, networks generally benefit from having a coach’s voice in their studio coverage, with ESPN’s Bob Myers currently the only non-athlete or journalist contributing to game coverage for a major NBA broadcaster.
