Jeff Van Gundy shared a funny story on Wednesday about the time he had to take care of Rick Pitino’s son, Richard, whom he termed a “brat.”
Van Gundy was broadcasting the Spurs-Warriors game for ESPN when announcer Mike Breen talked about how Spurs coach Gregg Popovich spent time learning under Don Nelson in Golden State before becoming a head coach. Among other things, Nelson forced Pop to go golfing. That led to Van Gundy being asked to share a story about a time he was forced to do something for a great coach when he was an assistant.
Here’s the story:
Jeff Van Gundy tells a story about Rick Pitino making him take @MNCoachPitino to the carnival pic.twitter.com/OTbfChn9t1
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) March 30, 2017
Van Gundy says he was asked by Rick Pitino to take Richard, who is now the Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach, to a carnival. He was given $10 to let Richard play with, and the kid went through it quickly and expected Van Gundy to pitch in with some more funds.
“Richard Pitino, you were a brat that night!” Van Gundy joked.
Van Gundy thinks Pitino was around 7 or 8 years old at the time, which just puts everything into perspective considering Richard is now 34 and a head coach. Funny story.
