But we slowly came to love and root for Van Gundy precisely because he refused to play the part. He was not a former player, like his two predecessors, Don Nelson and mentor Pat Riley, were. He never upgraded his wardrobe, car, or social status to the level of his bank account.
What he lacked in flashiness and grace, he made up for in devotion and knowledge of the game. His most successful teams played with these same characteristics and proved that even in today’s game, this ideology could work. Van Gundy leaves the Knicks as the third winningest coach in franchise history, behind Lapchick and Holzman and ahead of Riley. He took the Knicks to the playoffs in each of his first six seasons, including a galvanizing run to the NBA Finals in 1999.
Van Gundy’s surprising decision to step down, unbeknownst to almost anyone affiliated with the organization, should not be so shocking to the rest of us. He simply had had enough. “He said he wanted to spend more time with his family,” guard Howard Eisley said. “I was shocked, sure, but I know this has been a difficult year for Jeff personally.” (Van Gundy had been coaching with a heavy heart having lost Farrell Lynch, a roommate from college, and Bill Minardi, a close family friend, in the WTC attacks.) Van Gundy admitted that he had been contemplating stepping down since last summer. This past off-season, the Knicks added three solid players -- Clarence Witherspoon, Shandon Anderson and Howard Eisley – but failed to address their glaring height and athletic deficiencies. Then, when Marcus Camby went down, as he always seems to do, the Knicks had no one to replace him (sorry Travis, Felton, et al.). Latrell Sprewell's moaning about the team's lack of size was widely believed to reflect the sentiments of Van Gundy without the coach having to say them.
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