“There’s not one benefit of coming in as an interim coach,” Van Gundy said, speaking of the task generally. “Not one. No preparation time. You have to take over for someone who hired you who just got through a traumatic, life-altering experience of losing a job. You have to navigate how you can be loyal to that person and at that same time move forward with your team to get them to play well. That’s a very hard thing to do.” And he adds: “As a lifer who has not had it easy to get to the NBA, he is enjoying this great opportunity. And I’m not going to be surprised at the end of the year if Steve Mills and Scott Perry say, ‘Hey he did such a great job that we’re going forward with him.’”