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Headline He wasn't seen as a flight risk
Stan Van Gundy's perfunctory = look-see had a=20 red-eye ending.
Origin Sam Amick Bee Staff = Writer
Publication Date 6/8/2007
Page C1
Section SPORTS
Edition METRO FINAL
Dateline  
Corrections  
Memo KINGS COACHING SEARCH - HOW THE DEAL = DIDN=92T GO DOWN
Body Text He=20 didn't pull a Billy Donovan. Not quite, anyway.

There = was no=20 Kings contract signed before Stan=20 Van Gundy high-tailed out of = Sacramento late=20 Wednesday to accept the Orlando head-coaching position, just = the=20 mutual understanding that he would become the next Kings = coach and=20 the distinct possibility of a Thursday announcement as=20 such.

Except for that one, shall we say,=20 stipulation.

From the brink of a new era Wednesday to = the=20 prolonging of a coaching search Thursday, the Van Gundy chapter was brief and=20 bizarre.

In recent days, Van Gundy appeared prepared to = join the=20 Kings, save for a desire to show his wife, Kim, the area, to = gain a=20 comfort level across the country from their Florida home. = The couple=20 came via the Kings' charter plane, toured the region in a = rental car=20 while Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie was at his=20 home.

Meanwhile in Orlando, the Magic had finalized = the=20 contract dissolution with Florida coach Billy Donovan and = was close=20 to satisfying compensation demands from Miami Heat president = Pat=20 Riley for Van Gundy's = contract=20 that ran through 2008.

As the hours went by and = Petrie heard=20 no word from Van Gundy regarding the Kings' = offer, Petrie=20 said, the coach's preference became clear. Whether Van Gundy's Sacramento = scouting trip was=20 a sincere move or a stall tactic, only he knows. Van Gundy did not return a = call.

"We=20 obviously had really significant discussions with him, and = he had=20 some personal things that he needed a resolution on -- one = being=20 whether his family would be comfortable wherever he'd be = working,"=20 Petrie said Thursday. "Certainly the presumption was that he = was=20 coming here, (but) that's something we have no control over. = That=20 was the reason for the visit.

"As the day wore on, it = became=20 pretty obvious that his heart of hearts was in=20 Orlando."

Van = Gundy in Orlando seemed the = logical=20 conclusion from the beginning. He was already living less = than four=20 hours away, had extended family in the area and the = basketball=20 situation, clearly, was brighter with the = Magic.

According to=20 a Kings official, their only objection is that Van Gundy wasn't more forthcoming = about his=20 dealings with the Magic. Petrie had asked Van Gundy in recent days where = things stood=20 with Orlando, and the Kings were of the understanding that = they=20 would be alerted to anything close to an impending = hire.

"We=20 honored Stan's -- what's the word I'm looking for here -- = approach=20 to how he wanted to proceed," Petrie said. "You take that at = face=20 value, and sometimes things don't work out ... = .

"It's like a=20 good friend of mine once told me, you don't cry over things = that=20 don't cry over you."

Before Van Gundy hurriedly checked out of = the=20 Embassy Suites hotel in Sacramento just before 10 p.m. on = Wednesday,=20 he -- according to the Orlando Sentinel -- spent two hours = in a=20 Kinko's copy store waiting for the Magic to call while his = wife=20 looked for Orlando homes on a computer. He faxed a signed = contract=20 to the Magic around 9:45 p.m.

Van Gundy then hopped on an = airport shuttle=20 and took a commercial flight to New York City, landing at 8 = a.m.=20 before taking another plane to Orlando.

Van Gundy had notified Petrie of = his=20 decision earlier in the evening in a brief conversation. = Team=20 co-owners Joe and Gavin Maloof, who were at the movie = premiere of=20 "Ocean's 13" at their Palms Casino in Las Vegas, were later=20 notified. Van Gundy, who was officially = introduced by=20 the Magic on Thursday, insists he was not using the Kings as = leverage.

"I wouldn't have flown out there just to = negotiate=20 with the Magic," he told the South-Florida Sun-Sentinel. "I = know it=20 was a crazy day, but why would anybody do that? When we went = out=20 there, we were not only thinking about it, we took stuff for = the=20 press conference."

The saga has opened the coaching = search=20 once again, as Petrie left many possibilities open. While = Lakers=20 assistant Kurt Rambis was the only other candidate to = besides Van Gundy to receive a second = interview,=20 Petrie said the remaining six candidates will be = reconsidered for=20 possible follow-ups as well.

He also left open the=20 possibility of new names. "I'll get with Joe and Gavin and = we'll=20 talk through the people we talked to again and maybe look at = rest of=20 landscape a little bit and go from there," he said. "It's = not like=20 we've got to hire a guy by tomorrow."

The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at=20 samick@sacbee.com.
Graphic Text Stan = Van Gundy:Kinko's trumped Kings on = his trip=20 to Sacramento.
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