Report: Clippers have “strong interest” in Celtics’ Jeff Van Gundy

Clippers have ‘strong interest’ in Celtics’ Jeff Van Gundy: Report originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics are reportedly exploring the possibility of promoting senior consultant Jeff Van Gundy to assistant coach next season.

But it sounds like they have serious competition.

The Los Angeles Clippers have “strong interest” in hiring Van Gundy as an assistant coach on head coach Tyronn Lue's staff, longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein reported Thursday, adding that LA has “a great chance of being successful with that once the NBA Finals are over.”

Van Gundy and Lue have a long history together: Van Gundy coached Lue with the Houston Rockets in 2004, and he and Lue were both on the U.S. team's staff at the 2023 FIFA World Cup.

Van Gundy has been a valuable resource for President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens and the Celtics since joining the organization in October 2023. The former NBA head coach and ESPN color commentator has been a fixture at the C's practices and games all season and even spent a stint working with the Maine Celtics in the G-League.

“It's really cool because he has an unbiased perspective on our organization,” Mazzulla said of Van Gundy after he was hired. “And as the season goes on, sometimes it gets hard to take a 30,000-foot perspective because you're working with these guys every day and you're in the middle of it, and your own personnel is in the middle of it.”

“Having someone who can step back and look at the organization from the outside is a tremendous weapon.”

The Celtics are already losing their top assistant, Charles Lee, who recently accepted the job as head coach of the Charlotte Hornets, while veteran assistant Sam Cassell has also interviewed for multiple head coaching positions. Losing Lee, Cassell and Van Gundy in the same offseason would be a major blow for Boston, but Mazzulla recently said he had confidence in the rest of the coaching staff and would plan to fill Lee's shoes through internal promotions.

“When you have the structure that we have in terms of talented young guys, you just have to be as patient as possible and know that there is a process that dictates how you have to approach it,” Mazzulla said in early May. “Especially if you want to keep as many people as possible. So you just have to go through that process.”

The Celtics can secure their 18th championship title with a win in Game 4 of the 2024 NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night. The game kicks off at 8:30 p.m. ET, with NBC Sports Boston coverage beginning at 7 p.m. with Live before the Celtics game.