Celtics spark speculation that they’ve hired Jeff Van Gundy to their coaching staff for 2023-24 season

Former NBA head coach and ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy may be a part of the Boston Celtics coaching staff for the 2023-24 season.

Boston’s team website lists Van Gundy as a senior consultant, which is a position within the team’s coaching staff. If he is indeed part of the staff, it’s unclear what his exact responsibilities are with the team, but it’s possible that he’ll help mentor young head coach Joe Mazzulla.

Coaching Staff

Van Gundy was laid off by ESPN earlier this year after spending several seasons as one of the top NBA analysts for the company. The Denver Nuggets-Miami Heat NBA Finals in the 2022-23 season marked Van Gundy’s 17th championship series as an analyst.

Van Gundy began his NBA coaching career as an assistant coach for the New York Knicks in the 1989-90 season. He eventually took over as the team’s head coach in the middle of the 1995-96 season and remained in that position into the 2001-02 campaign.

During the 1998-99 lockout season, Van Gundy guided the Knicks to a 27-23 record in the regular season, and the team went on to make the NBA Finals.

New York became the first No. 8 seed to ever make the NBA Finals that season, and the team remained the only one to accomplish the feat until Miami reached the NBA Finals as a No. 8 seed in the 2022-23 season.

After his time coaching the Knicks, Van Gundy spent four seasons as the head coach of the Houston Rockets, compiling a 182-146 regular season record with the franchise. He has not coached in the NBA since the 2006-07 season.

During his time as an NBA head coach, Van Gundy saw 88 playoff games, posting a 44-44 record with one NBA Finals appearance.

The Celtics, who reached the Eastern Conference Finals in Mazzulla’s first season as the team’s head coach, are expected to be one of the best teams in the NBA in the 2023-24 season.

The squad has two rising stars in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and it added Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday in trades this offseason. The team is hoping those moves help bring it back to the NBA Finals this season.

It will be interesting to see if Boston makes a formal announcement that Van Gundy is indeed part of the team’s coaching staff and shares what his responsibilities will be this upcoming season.