Jerome Miron-USA Today Sports
Remember that time when Jeff Van Gundy was a potential candidate for the Brooklyn Nets head coaching job?
With all the star power Brooklyn now possesses, the former New York Knicks and Houston Rockets coach has to be kicking himself for not jumping at this opportunity back when he had the chance.
Before the Nets decided to make everyone fall out of their seats by hiring Jason Kidd, Van Gundy had his name floating around because he seemed like the perfect fit for a very underachieving team that had All-Star talent such as Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez in its starting lineup.
A deal between the Nets and Van Gundy never did materialize, and the blockbuster trade that brought Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry from the Boston Celtics to Brooklyn was agreed to on Draft night, with Kidd already having been in place.
Van Gundy said that he first wanted to get a feel of what direction the Nets organization was headed in. After all the moves they’ve made this summer, the message couldn’t be any clearer that owner Mikhail Prokhorov is shooting for a championship at this very moment.
Had the Nets acquired Pierce and Garnett before they even hired Kidd, I have a strong feeling Van Gundy would’ve immediately traded in the broadcasting headset for a Nets clipboard. Those two are not only veterans and future Hall of Famers, but they’re pros who know how to sacrifice for the sake of winning a championship, just as they did in 2008.
And don’t forget that Brooklyn also signed the widely respected Andrei Kirilenko to come off the bench.
Funny how things played out.
Mike B. Ruiz is a Brooklyn Nets writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikebruiz and “Like” him on Facebook.
