ESPN made a controversial move to lay off Jeff Van Gundy ahead of this NBA season, leading to him being a senior consultant for the Boston Celtics, and his brother, Stan Van Gundy ripped ESPN's handling of the situation during an appearance on the LeBatard Show.

“He was hurt by it, I mean he'd worked for them for 17 years and it wasn't even just the fact that they made the move, I mean they s*** on him,” Stan Van Gundy said of ESPN letting go of Jeff Van Gundy on the LeBatard Show. “I mean the timing was awful, they waited until basically the NBA market in terms of coaching jobs, assistant jobs, front office jobs was already gone by to make the move. And then they you know, delayed and delayed and delayed on a buyout that would free him to work for people. I mean after 17 years of being in arguably, I don't even know if it's arguably, the best game broadcast booth in the business in basketball and being the kind of person he is, ESPN s*** on him. And so all I could do was basically tell him that that's how I saw the situation and I felt awful for him.”

It was not a popular decision when ESPN decided to move on from Jeff Van Gundy. Luckily, he has a chance to add a championship ring if the Celtics end up winning the NBA Finals this year, where they will meet either the Dallas Mavericks or the Minnesota Timberwolves. It seems like the Mavericks are the more likely opponent, as they are up 3-1 in the series over the Timberwolves.

What is Jeff Van Gundy's future?

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It will be interesting to see if Jeff Van Gundy ends up back in the media or broadcasting world, as he was a fan favorite of many NBA fans. It would be disappointing if he does not make a return at some point, but as his brother said, he could be involved with a team.

Jeff Van Gundy seems unlikely to be a head coach again, as he has not been on a sideline since 2006-2007, when he was with the Houston Rockets. He coached for seven seasons with the New York Knicks, then coached four years with the Rockets. He had a 430-318 record as a coach. He has a lot of experience, and is using that to try to help as a consultant for the Celtics right now.

Van Gundy was one of the big names let go by ESPN last summer, as Mark Jackson, Jalen Rose, Keyshawn Johnson and Steve Young were also let go.

Stan Van Gundy was very upset by how it was handled, but Jeff seems to be in a decent spot.