The trio of Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson on ABC and ESPN is always solid, with the play-by-lay man providing his usual great summary of the action (including a “BANG” or two), and the former coaches/players coloring in the action from their perspectives.
But it’s kind of funny at certain point when Van Gundy goes off the rails, sometimes off something Jackson said, and Breen has to gently bring the broadcast back to the action on the floor.
All of that has turned into a hilarious new meme that is now everywhere as the NBA Finals between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat:
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka has turned heads around the NBA as a result of his blockbuster Russell Westbrook trade in February.
Throughout last season and the first half of this season, it looked like the Los Angeles Lakers had little, if any, hope of returning to respectability any time soon.
They were saddled with a roster that lacked youth, athleticism and viable depth around LeBron James and Anthony Davis, not to mention tradable assets.
As the team aggressively shopped Russell Westbrook, many felt he had no value on the open market and L.A. would be forced to give up at least one future first-round draft pick to unload him while bringing back little in return.
But the situation has turned out much better than most could’ve reasonably hoped.
General manager Rob Pelinka turned Westbrook, a 2027 first-round pick and little-used players Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damian Jones into point guard D’Angelo Russell, who has been playing very well and appears an ideal fit. In addition, he also gained Jarred Vanderbilt, who is an excellent and versatile frontcourt defender, and Malik Beasley, who has the ability to get hot from the perimeter.
Since those three players debuted, the Lakers are 8-4.
Before their game against the New York Knicks on Sunday, ESPN analyst and former Knicks and Houston Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy heaped praise onto Pelinka and the rest of the Lakers’ front office (h/t Sports Illustrated).
“Give Rob Pelinka and his front office staff monumental amounts of credit for the overhaul, and saving the Lakers’ season,” Van Gundy said during tip-off of Sunday’s broadcast.
Even with James sidelined due to a right foot tendon injury, Los Angeles is in position to make the playoffs because it has a fairly favorable schedule the rest of the way.
Former NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy doesn’t think the Lakers’ Anthony Davis is a sure-fire Hall of Famer yet.
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Miami Heat, 112-109, sans Anthony Davis, LeBron James and Lonnie Walker IV in what was one of their most impressive wins so far this season.
During the ESPN telecast of the contest, the topic turned to Davis’ career and accomplishments. Former NBA player and head coach Mark Jackson said Davis has had a Hall of Fame career thus far, but Jeff Van Gundy argued that Davis probably would not get into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame if his career ended now.
Many fans have criticized Davis for being injury-prone to the point of wanting the Lakers to jettison him any way they can, and it seems those fans would agree with Van Gundy.
If you missed it last night, Jeff Van Gundy isn't sold on Anthony Davis being a Hall of Famer… pic.twitter.com/Fj7jAZH8fT
“‘Are you sure right now if he ended today, he’d be a Hall of Famer?’ Van Gundy asked.
“Jackson argued that to this point in Davis’ career, the Lakers big man has done enough to be considered a future member of the Hall of Fame. He then asked Van Gundy if he agreed that Davis was on pace for the Hall of Fame.
“‘I’m not sure because of the injuries,’ Van Gundy said. ‘He’s just … been unavailable so often. I think it’s hard to say that.'”
An objective and unemotional observer would probably argue that Davis does already deserve to be enshrined in Springfield, Massachusetts. He owns career averages of 24 points on 51.8% shooting, 10.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots per game, and this season he has put up 27.4 points on 59.4% shooting, 12.1 boards and 2.1 blocks a game.
He is reportedly making good progress in the rehab from his stress injury, and a return sometime this month is not out of the question.
Jeff Van Gundy is a believer in Rafael Stone and Stephen Silas: “A lot of teams are just bad, and they don’t have hope. I think the Rockets have had difficult records, but they have hope.”
Though veteran NBA coach and current ESPN commentator Jeff Van Gundy was reportedly a finalist for the head coaching vacancy with the Houston Rockets in October 2020, that job went to Stephen Silas. But there don’t appear to be any hard feelings on Van Gundy’s end.
In a recent interview with ESPN Houston’s The Wheelhouse radio program, Van Gundy offered strong praise to both Silas and general manager Rafael Stone — who made the choice to hire Silas — for their work as stewards of the current rebuilding project in Houston.
“I’m not a huge fan of the total teardown, usually, because I think it often times happens prematurely,” Van Gundy said. “But in the Rockets situation, they were really left with no choice in the matter. (James) Harden and (Russell) Westbrook really left them no choice.”
Van Gundy elaborated:
Rafael Stone and his staff, even though they’ve had the worst record in the league the last two years, I think there are signs of talent and growth. They have hope. A lot of teams are just bad, and they don’t have hope. I think the Rockets have had difficult records, but they have hope.
I think Rafael has done a good job, and I think Stephen Silas has been unbelievable through this whole situation. Think about it. A couple years ago, he was brought in with the understanding that he had a championship-caliber roster, in many people’s eyes, with Harden and Westbrook. Then, because of factors totally out of his control, he takes over this massive rebuilding project.
Even going into year three, you look at the lack of experience on the roster, and they’re not going to win a ton of games this year. But I think Stephen’s steady hand will provide the leadership they need for a good year of growth.
There has been some good fortune, too. For example, the odds of Houston securing both a top-two draft pick (what became Jalen Green) in 2021 and a top-three pick (what became Jabari Smith Jr.) in 2022 were about 11 percent, according to the NBA’s revised draft lottery odds.
Green and Smith are now the foundational pieces of Houston’s rebuild, and Van Gundy liked Smith’s play at the 2022 summer league. “The things I like the most about him, he has size, shooting, and a natural intensity and energy,” Van Gundy said. “I’ve liked what I’ve seen so far.”
Beyond simply having good luck, though, Stone and Silas have each controlled what they can control. For example, Stone made a series of controversial decisions (such as not playing John Wall in the 2021-22 season and focusing almost entirely on future draft equity in the Harden trade) to maximize lottery odds, which have since paid off in a big way. Stone also pulled off a number of below-the-radar moves to bring in other talented young players around Green and Smith, headlined by the likes of Alperen Sengun, Kevin Porter Jr., Jae’Sean Tate, and KJ Martin.
As for Silas, he deserves credit for Green showing significant growth throughout his rookie year — and most importantly, ending it in a much stronger position than where he started. A historic scoring stretch late in the season led to Green making the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team.
There’s much more work to be done in the months and years ahead, as the Rockets look to climb up the Western Conference standings. But for now, in the early stages, Van Gundy and other league analysts seem to be impressed — and there are good reasons for that sentiment.
ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss Game 1 of the NBA Finals, an ESPN official told The Athletic on Thursday. The news comes after Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Breen missed Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals due to COVID-19. Van Gundy was also on the broadcast team for the Heat-Celtics series. Van Gundy was scheduled to call this week’s NBA Finals for the 16th time in his career, alongside Breen, Mark Jackson and sideline reporter Lisa Salters.
Broadcaster Mike Breen reportedly feels better after a similar diagnosis caused him to miss Game 7 of the East finals, but he is not cleared yet to return.
The NBA Finals are already slated to have some conspicuous absences due to COVID-19, but at least for now, none of them are players. Broadcasters Jeff Van Gundy and Adrian Wojnarowski — both of ESPN — will not be on the call for Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors after testing positive for the viral malady according to new reporting from the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand.
This is on the heels of fellow ESPN broadcaster Mike Breen missing Game 7 of the Celtics-Miami Heat East finals series for the same reason. Per Marchand, the plan at present is to deploy a pair of announcers consisting of Breen if he is able to return paired with broadcaster Mark Jackson or Mark Jones, Breen’s replacement in the final game of the East finals.
Currently, ESPN has broadcaster Doris Burke scheduled to be calling the game on the radio, where she is an analyst alongside P.J. Carlesimo and play-by-player Marc Kestecher.
Celtics Lab 117: Previewing Celtics-Dubs and the evolution of space in the NBA with Mike Prada https://t.co/r4Tw53NEPb
