http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/211546.html
He wasn't seen as a flight risk
Stan Van Gundy's perfunctory look-see had a red-eye ending.
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:09 am PDT Friday, June 8, 2007
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C1
He didn't pull a Billy Donovan. Not quite, anyway.
There was no Kings contract signed before Stan Van Gundy high-tailed out of Sacramento late Wednesday to accept the Orlando head-coaching position, just the mutual understanding that he would become the next Kings coach and the distinct possibility of a Thursday announcement as such.
Except for that one, shall we say, stipulation.
From the brink of a new era Wednesday to the prolonging of a coaching search Thursday, the Van Gundy chapter was brief and bizarre.
In recent days, Van Gundy appeared prepared to join the Kings, save for a desire to show his wife, Kim, the area, to gain a comfort level across the country from their Florida home. The couple came via the Kings' charter plane, toured the region in a rental car while Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie was at his home.
Meanwhile in Orlando, the Magic had finalized the contract dissolution with Florida coach Billy Donovan and was close to satisfying compensation demands from Miami Heat president Pat Riley for Van Gundy's contract that ran through 2008.
As the hours went by and Petrie heard no word from Van Gundy regarding the Kings' offer, Petrie said, the coach's preference became clear. Whether Van Gundy's Sacramento scouting trip was a sincere move or a stall tactic, only he knows. Van Gundy did not return a call.
"We obviously had really significant discussions with him, and he had some personal things that he needed a resolution on -- one being whether his family would be comfortable wherever he'd be working," Petrie said Thursday. "Certainly the presumption was that he was coming here, (but) that's something we have no control over. That was the reason for the visit.
"As the day wore on, it became pretty obvious that his heart of hearts was in Orlando."
Van Gundy in Orlando seemed the logical conclusion from the beginning. He was already living less than four hours away, had extended family in the area and the basketball situation, clearly, was brighter with the Magic.
According to a Kings official, their only objection is that Van Gundy wasn't more forthcoming about his dealings with the Magic. Petrie had asked Van Gundy in recent days where things stood with Orlando, and the Kings were of the understanding that they would be alerted to anything close to an impending hire.
"We honored Stan's -- what's the word I'm looking for here -- approach to how he wanted to proceed," Petrie said. "You take that at face value, and sometimes things don't work out ... .
"It's like a good friend of mine once told me, you don't cry over things that don't cry over you."
Before Van Gundy hurriedly checked out of the Embassy Suites hotel in Sacramento just before 10 p.m. on Wednesday, he -- according to the Orlando Sentinel -- spent two hours in a Kinko's copy store waiting for the Magic to call while his wife looked for Orlando homes on a computer. He faxed a signed contract to the Magic around 9:45 p.m.
Van Gundy then hopped on an airport shuttle and took a commercial flight to New York City, landing at 8 a.m. before taking another plane to Orlando.
Van Gundy had notified Petrie of his decision earlier in the evening in a brief conversation. Team co-owners Joe and Gavin Maloof, who were at the movie premiere of "Ocean's 13" at their Palms Casino in Las Vegas, were later notified. Van Gundy, who was officially introduced by the Magic on Thursday, insists he was not using the Kings as leverage.
"I wouldn't have flown out there just to negotiate with the Magic," he told the South-Florida Sun-Sentinel. "I know it was a crazy day, but why would anybody do that? When we went out there, we were not only thinking about it, we took stuff for the press conference."
The saga has opened the coaching search once again, as Petrie left many possibilities open. While Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis was the only other candidate to besides Van Gundy to receive a second interview, Petrie said the remaining six candidates will be reconsidered for possible follow-ups as well.
He also left open the possibility of new names. "I'll get with Joe and Gavin and we'll talk through the people we talked to again and maybe look at rest of landscape a little bit and go from there," he said. "It's not like we've got to hire a guy by tomorrow."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at samick@sacbee.com.
He wasn't seen as a flight risk
Stan Van Gundy's perfunctory look-see had a red-eye ending.
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:09 am PDT Friday, June 8, 2007
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C1
He didn't pull a Billy Donovan. Not quite, anyway.
There was no Kings contract signed before Stan Van Gundy high-tailed out of Sacramento late Wednesday to accept the Orlando head-coaching position, just the mutual understanding that he would become the next Kings coach and the distinct possibility of a Thursday announcement as such.
Except for that one, shall we say, stipulation.
From the brink of a new era Wednesday to the prolonging of a coaching search Thursday, the Van Gundy chapter was brief and bizarre.
In recent days, Van Gundy appeared prepared to join the Kings, save for a desire to show his wife, Kim, the area, to gain a comfort level across the country from their Florida home. The couple came via the Kings' charter plane, toured the region in a rental car while Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie was at his home.
Meanwhile in Orlando, the Magic had finalized the contract dissolution with Florida coach Billy Donovan and was close to satisfying compensation demands from Miami Heat president Pat Riley for Van Gundy's contract that ran through 2008.
As the hours went by and Petrie heard no word from Van Gundy regarding the Kings' offer, Petrie said, the coach's preference became clear. Whether Van Gundy's Sacramento scouting trip was a sincere move or a stall tactic, only he knows. Van Gundy did not return a call.
"We obviously had really significant discussions with him, and he had some personal things that he needed a resolution on -- one being whether his family would be comfortable wherever he'd be working," Petrie said Thursday. "Certainly the presumption was that he was coming here, (but) that's something we have no control over. That was the reason for the visit.
"As the day wore on, it became pretty obvious that his heart of hearts was in Orlando."
Van Gundy in Orlando seemed the logical conclusion from the beginning. He was already living less than four hours away, had extended family in the area and the basketball situation, clearly, was brighter with the Magic.
According to a Kings official, their only objection is that Van Gundy wasn't more forthcoming about his dealings with the Magic. Petrie had asked Van Gundy in recent days where things stood with Orlando, and the Kings were of the understanding that they would be alerted to anything close to an impending hire.
"We honored Stan's -- what's the word I'm looking for here -- approach to how he wanted to proceed," Petrie said. "You take that at face value, and sometimes things don't work out ... .
"It's like a good friend of mine once told me, you don't cry over things that don't cry over you."
Before Van Gundy hurriedly checked out of the Embassy Suites hotel in Sacramento just before 10 p.m. on Wednesday, he -- according to the Orlando Sentinel -- spent two hours in a Kinko's copy store waiting for the Magic to call while his wife looked for Orlando homes on a computer. He faxed a signed contract to the Magic around 9:45 p.m.
Van Gundy then hopped on an airport shuttle and took a commercial flight to New York City, landing at 8 a.m. before taking another plane to Orlando.
Van Gundy had notified Petrie of his decision earlier in the evening in a brief conversation. Team co-owners Joe and Gavin Maloof, who were at the movie premiere of "Ocean's 13" at their Palms Casino in Las Vegas, were later notified. Van Gundy, who was officially introduced by the Magic on Thursday, insists he was not using the Kings as leverage.
"I wouldn't have flown out there just to negotiate with the Magic," he told the South-Florida Sun-Sentinel. "I know it was a crazy day, but why would anybody do that? When we went out there, we were not only thinking about it, we took stuff for the press conference."
The saga has opened the coaching search once again, as Petrie left many possibilities open. While Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis was the only other candidate to besides Van Gundy to receive a second interview, Petrie said the remaining six candidates will be reconsidered for possible follow-ups as well.
He also left open the possibility of new names. "I'll get with Joe and Gavin and we'll talk through the people we talked to again and maybe look at rest of landscape a little bit and go from there," he said. "It's not like we've got to hire a guy by tomorrow."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at samick@sacbee.com.
to asks Sprewell to throw crisp passes in practices, or, heaven forbid, sits him down while he is laughing as his team is getting routed, gets major points in my book. Why, he might even demand that his players listen to him in the huddle. How shocking that would be. If Pop likes him, I like him.
