Stan Van Gundy agrees to become Pelicans’ coach
Stan Van Gundy is headed to the New Orleans Pelicans, where he’ll take over a promising team that includes 2019 No. 1 overall draft pick Zion Williamson and reigning Most Improved Player Brandon Ingram.
Van Gundy agreed to a fouryear contract, said a person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The coach said on his Twitter account Wednesday that he was “excited to join a talented New Orleans Pelicans team” and thanked team owner Gayle Benson and others for the opportunity.
“It will be an honor to work with our players and to work for Mrs. Benson and David Griffin, Trajan Langdon, their staff and the great people of New Orleans,” Van Gundy wrote. “I can’t wait to talk to our players and get the process started.”
Among the players he’ll talk to is veteran locker-room leader JJ Redick, who spent his second through sixth NBA seasons playing for Van Gundy in Orlando. Redick has readily credited Van Gundy for helping him develop into a reliable double-digit scorer.
“In terms of intangibles and characteristics I think any NBA player should have, I think he taught me those things and he reinforced those things in me — professionalism, accountability ... not taking any nights off, all that stuff, because he lives that,” Redick said of Van Gundy in 2016, when he played for the Clippers and Van Gundy was coaching Detroit. “I see how hard he works, how much he invests in his craft, and so as a player, playing for him, you really have no choice but to do the same.”
In New Orleans, Van Gundy will replace Alvin Gentry, who was let go after the Pelicans missed this season’s playoffs.
The Pelicans were 30-42 this past season, getting to the NBA’s restart bubble at Walt Disney World but falling well short of the playoffs.
Van Gundy, 61, is a seasoned coach with a more traditional and direct style of communicating with players. His task now is to get Williamson and a largely young supporting cast to buy into a vision that is bound to emphasize defense as much, if not more, than pace of play.
Lue: ‘... good to be wanted’
LOS ANGELES »
Tyronn
Lue
is stepping into his new job as coach of the Clippers fully aware of the pressure to bring the first NBA championship to the long-suffering franchise. As if Lue needed a reminder, owner Steve Ballmer proclaimed, “My personality is all about winning.”
It’s been nearly two years since Lue worked as a head coach. He was fired in Cleveland after an 0-6 start to the 2018-19 season and used the down time to work on himself before joining Doc Rivers’ staff in Los Angeles this past season.
Ballmer said, “Ty is my kind of guy. He wants to move, move, move, learn, absorb, think new thoughts, which I think is essential to keep pushing yourself.”
Lue was a candidate for other head coaching jobs this offseason. Ballmer cited Lue’s accountability and his ability to connect with the players as factors that make “the best of the best is Ty Lue.”
“They chose me,” Lue said. “It feels good to be wanted.”
Bjorkgren describes plan for Pacers
INDIANAPOLIS » New Indiana Pacers coach Nate Bjorkgren went right to work Wednesday.
Less than 24 hours after accepting the job, the 45-year-old former Toronto Raptors assistant started explaining his plan.
He expects the Pacers to move the ball and take more 3-pointers. He wants the defense to be more disruptive. He promises not to get locked into rotations and will be willing to take risks. Perhaps most important, he believes there needs to be more communication between coaches and players.
Those are exactly the traits president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard hoped to find when he embarked on a coaching search two months ago .
“There are people in this world who bring energy and you like being around them,” Pritchard said after introducing Bjorkgren on a Zoom call.