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Stan Van Gundy  

Head Coach of the Detroit Pistons

Stanley Van Gundy is a professional basketball coach, currently serving as the head coach and president of basketball operations of the Detroit Pistons. From 2003 to 2005, he was the head coach of the Miami Heat but resigned in 2005 mid-season, turning the job over to Pat Riley. Van Gundy then coached the Orlando Magic for five seasons from 2007 to 2012, leading them to the 2009 NBA Finals. He is the brother of former New York Knicks and Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy.

Van Gundy spent twelve years with the Heat organization, beginning as an assistant coach to Pat Riley in 1995. After working as an assistant under Riley, Van Gundy was named head coach when Riley abruptly resigned as coach prior to the 2003–04 season. However, Riley remained as President of the team. Van Gundy took over a team that had won 25 games the previous season. He led them to a 42-win season, in which they won a very high percentage of their late season games and surprised many by advancing to the second round of the 2004 NBA Playoffs, nearly defeating the team with the league's best record, the Indiana Pacers. Riley resigned from the Heat in 2005.

In 2007, Van Gundy's first season with the Orlando Magic, he guided them to a 52-win season, earning the team's first division championship since the 1995–96 season, and the third-best record in the Eastern Conference. Orlando defeated the Toronto Raptors 4–1 in the first round of the playoffs, advancing to the Eastern Semifinals for the first time in twelve seasons. They were later defeated in the Eastern Semifinals by the Detroit Pistons 4–1.

Van Gundy and the Magic won 59 games in 2008–09, the second most in franchise history, along with a second consecutive division championship. They defeated the 66–16 Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals in six games to advancing to the NBA Finals, Orlando's first Finals appearance since 1995.

In 2010, Van Gundy was named the coach of the Eastern Conference All-Star team for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, making it the second time he had been given the honor to coach an all-star team. He led the Eastern Conference to victory for the second time. On May 21, 2012, Van Gundy was relieved of his duties as Head Coach, despite making the playoffs in all five seasons as coach.

In 2014, Van Gundy was hired as the new head coach and president of basketball operations of the Detroit Pistons. On February 9, 2015, Van Gundy became the 43rd coach in NBA history to win 400 games when the Pistons defeated the Atlanta Hawks 105–95. He clinched a playoff berth in the 2016 playoffs.

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