Jeff or Stan: Which Van Gundy Should Be Hired First?

Allow us a break from NBA draft lottery talk, complaints about the officiating in the Heat/Celtics series and talk of the Spurs' historic run through the West.

Let's take a quick break to talk Van Gundys.

That's right, both Jeff and Stan of the coaching Van Gundys are free agents after Stan was unceremoniously fired by the Orlando Magic last week. 

They both are excellent head coaches, each with a trip to the NBA Finals, as well as several other postseason appearances and other accolades.

So which one of them should get back into the coaching ranks first?

Stan. The man.

Jeff Van Gundy has now been out of coaching since getting fired after four years at the helm of the Houston Rockets in 2007.

It took him less than a day after his final game with Houston to assist in covering a playoff game for ESPN, and since then, he's been a highly regarded TV staple for that network as well as ABC.

There's no reason to assume that if he ever so chooses, Jeff could get back into coaching and be very successful. He owns a career winning percentage of .575 and led his teams to the playoffs in eight of his nine full seasons as a head coach in New York and Houston.

But Stan is the better choice right now.

He's closer to the game, and he should have earned some Coach of the Year votes for keeping his train wreck of a Magic team together this past year despite the circus created by Dwight Howard.

He's led his teams in Miami and Orlando to the playoffs in each of his seven full seasons as a head coach. He's won 64 percent of his games, led the Magic to 50-win seasons in every year but this one (a year in which just 66 games were played) and again, managed to keep his dignity intact while the Howard fiasco swirled around him every day.

There are rumors afloat that Stan wants to take a year off before getting back into coaching, and if that's the case, more power to him. After what he went through this past year, he deserves a vacation. There will be plenty more open jobs after next year, and Stan will surely be able to pick which one he wants.

Right now, though, he's the hotter commodity.

Jeff Van Gundy was a very good coach.

But his brother is better.