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NBA: Ranking every active head coach by playing career

By Corey Rausch

March 23, 2021; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr during the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
March 23, 2021; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr during the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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Stan Van Gundy
Stan Van Gundy (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /

Every NBA head coach ranked by playing career: 23. Stan Van Gundy

Imaging Stan Van Gundy playing basketball is rather strange… or is it?. He was a star point guard in high school and was able to go to a Division III college. Van Gundy attended State University of New York, the College at Brockport when he was coached by his father, Bill Van Gundy. During his senior season, he was named Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the overall State University of New York system.

Van Gundy was always more of a teacher than a player, as evidenced by his dual degree in Physical Education and English. Immediately after his playing career ended he transitioned into coach as an assistant at the University of Vermont. He took over as head coach at Castleton college for three seasons. He then transitioned back to being an assistant, with stops at Canisius, Fordham and Wisconsin (with a stop as the head man at UMass Lowell) before being promoted to the top job at Wisconsin.

He was only given one year at Wisconsin before being fired, even though he was in the midst of a five-year contract. This ended his time in college, as he headed to join the bench of Pat Riley with the Miami Heat. After eight seasons there, he took over as the head coach and has since been the lead man with the Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons and now the New Orleans Pelicans.