Stan Van Gundy Out As Pelicans Coach After One Season

The Pelicans have parted ways with coach Stan Van Gundy after one season, per Andrew Lopez and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Van Gundy becomes the second coach to spend just one year with a team before being let go, joining ex-Pacers coach Nate Bjorkgren.

Per Wojnarowski, Van Gundy had been meeting with Pelicans chief of basketball operations David Griffin, and that a Van Gundy departure had seemed “inevitable” as a result of those discussions.

The Pelicans finished 31-41, sort of slogging through a mediocre year and missing the playoffs in Zion Williamson‘s second season.

“I wasn’t happy with the results,” Van Gundy told reporters at the end of the season. “I wasn’t happy with myself on some things basketball wise. But as far as looking at the job as a whole, it’s even better than I expected and I expected it to be good.”

Van Gundy, 61, has also coached the Heat, Magic and Pistons, compiling a 554-425 record in 13 seasons overall. That included coaching Dwight Howard and the Magic to the 2009 Finals.

Lakers assistant Jason Kidd, Bucks assistant Charles Lee, and Nets assistants Jacque Vaughn and Ime Udoka could all be under consideration for the New Orleans vacancy, Wojnarowski wrote.

The Pelicans are the fifth team undergoing a coaching change at the moment, joining the Pacers, Celtics, Magic and Trail Blazers.