There wasn’t any single moment when Jeff Van Gundy realized the coaching potential of Scott Brooks, who played for the Houston Rockets when Van Gundy was an assistant coach. But Brooks’ sideline ascension — he will coach in his first NBA Finals for Oklahoma City starting Tuesday — makes sense when Van Gundy looks back on Houston’s 1994 championship season. Brooks lost minutes that season to rookie point guard Sam Cassell.
“He always had the intangible qualities that you would associate with a coach,” Van Gundy said. “He was tough, physically and mentally. He worked exceptionally hard at his skills, and he was deeply committed to the team despite fluctuating playing time.”
Recommended Stories
Van Gundy, now in his seat as ESPN’s broadcast analyst, has unfailing admiration for both Brooks and Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. The pair outdueled two of the NBA’s best coaches, San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich and Boston’s Doc Rivers, just to reach the finals.
Whether it be sideline bumps, Pat Riley or series deficits, Spoelstra has never cracked under the weight of coaching LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Van Gundy sees a team that plays defense, spaces the floor and gets its best players open shots.
“There’s difficultly in coaching greatness, too,” Van Gundy said. “I think Erik’s demeanor with his team is so good in that he’s intense, he’s focused, but he’s also open. One thing you never see him do … he’s never lashed out.”
While Spoelstra was handed the Big Three, Brooks has cultivated the growth of his own power trio the same way he turned himself into a 10-year NBA player despite going undrafted.
“The career [Brooks] carved out as a player has to make him awfully proud,” Van Gundy said. “But he’s on this path to surpassing what he achieved as a player now as a coach. He has a chance with a team he built, if everything goes right, to be a team that can sustain this success for a long time.”
According to Van Gundy, one coach will be above reproach when the series is over.
“On every loss, the coach will be blamed — until you get a championship,” he said. “Once you get a championship, the media no longer analyzes you the same way.”
– Craig Stouffer
