Jeff Van Gundy spent a dozen full or partial seasons on the New York Knicks bench, first as an assistant under Pat Riley and then as the head coach.
During his tenure, he might have seen more of Michael Jordan — a nemesis to the Knicks and pretty much every other team that dared aspire to a championship during the 1990s — than some Bulls season ticket-holders.
A full season after Van Gundy was fired by the Knicks, he was hired by the Houston Rockets for the 2003-04 season. That coincided with LeBron James’s rookie season with the Cavaliers.