A biography for Jeff Van Gundyhasn’t been written yet.
“Phil Jackson was a brilliant basketball coach, not just because of the offense that he employed, but it was so many other things that went into it.”
“It is a player's league until you lose.”
“All the fascination with numbers conspires to make you forget the beauty of the game sometimes.”
“Losing has an unbelievably negative impact on me.”
“Most elite big men are high maintenance.”
“My one suggestion going forward is, any felony committed against a woman should be a full-season suspension.”
“Among the hardest-working players I've ever been associated, Yao stands at the very top of the list. Beyond that, though, here's what truly separated him from everyone else: His ability to enjoy other people's successes.”
“I don't like comparing people or teams.”
“It's hard to change a roster around. You've got to hit your draft picks right, you've gotta hit free agency right, and a team's got to fit together.”
“Christmas Day is a big day for NBA basketball.”
“All you try to do in any system you incorporate is put players in their areas of strength and try to hide and minimize their weaknesses.”
“If your best offensive players go down, all you can do is hang on.”
“Kobe Bryant is a terrific offensive rebounder.”
“Are you playing for your teammates and coaches? That's how it should be.”
“I quit the Knicks, so I know what quitting is. I did. I quit. And it's something I regret to this day. I live with it every day, and I regret it. And I let my emotions come into it. And I was just emotionally spent. I made a bad decision, and I quit.”
“You would never find a coach in any sport more giving of his time than Coach Parcells to other New York coaches.”
“I want to control everything that goes into winning or losing.”
“I don't know about any others, but coaching basketball is the only thing I can do.”
“If you are going to call out your teammates, you have to call out yourself, too. You can't just separate yourself from the rest, because if you are going to get 90 percent of the credit when you win, you have to be willing to take 90 percent of the blame when you lose.”
“Mark Fox is always criticized recruiting: he can't keep the Georgia kids home. What that means - he's not cheating and paying. That's what it means.”