<
>

Report: Van Gundy leaving Rockets

Saturday's Game 7 loss to the Jazz was the last for Jeff Van Gundy as the Houston Rockets' coach, according to the New York Post.

Citing an "impeccable source," The Post reported that Van Gundy is leaving NBA coaching for the forseeable future. According to the source, Van Gundy's decision isn't based on the first-round series loss to the Jazz.

When contacted by ESPN.com on Sunday, Rockets spokesman Nelson Luis said Van Gundy planned to speak to the media on Monday.

"We don't know where this came from. Jeff has been spending all his energy working on the Utah series, and he hasn't put any thought into his future situation."

Van Gundy wouldn't discuss his future when asked in the postgame news conference Saturday.

When reached by The Houston Chronicle, Van Gundy strongly denied he has decided to leave his job as Rockets coach.

"I haven't even thought about that yet," Van Gundy said. "It's just 12 hours after we lost. There has been speculation about my job going on the whole year. Anybody that saying that [he has chosen to step down as Rockets coach], I have no idea why they would say that.

"There is no significance to anything other than we lost. That's the only significant thing."

Rockets owner Leslie Alexander told The Chronicle that he hasn't made a decision on Van Gundy, who has one non-guaranteed season remaining on his contract.

Alexander told the newspaper that he doesn't plan to fire Van Gundy.

"There is absolutely no truth to that. That's false, totally false. That decision has not been made," he told The Chronicle.

The Rockets have missed the playoffs just once in Van Gundy's four years with the Rockets, but Houston has also failed to make it out of the first round each time.

Van Gundy is 430-318 as an NBA coach. He has a 44-44 postseason record in guiding the Knicks and the Rockets to the playoffs.

In 1999, he became the first coach in NBA history to guide an eighth-seeded team to the NBA Finals, where the Knicks lost to the San Antonio Spurs.

His winning percentage of .590 in New York ranks only second to Pat Riley (.680) in Knicks history.