Van Gundy shows a different (read: lighter) side as a television analyst

The self-deprecating Jeff Van Gundy says he doesn't think he's "particularly adept" at being a color guy. AP Lakers vs. Celtics   Game 6 Recap: Celtics clobber Lakers, win title Phil denied | Kobe fizzles| Big 3 delivers Ian Thomsen: Celtics are unique champs Steve Aschburner: KG's weight is over Jack McCallum: Lakers have their issues Chris Mannix: Rondo responds in clincher Report Card | Fast Breaks | Photo Gallery Steve Aschburner: Pierce's growth spurt Marty Burns: Five lasting Finals memories React: Your thoughts on the Celtics' title? Game 5 Recap: Lakers stave off elimination Ian Thomsen: Will Kobe ever erupt? Chris Mannix: Lakers not soft this night Report Card | Fast Breaks| Photo Gallery Game 4 Recap: Celtics' historic rally stuns Lakers Ian Thomsen: Celtics have the urgency Ian Thomsen: Finals lessons learned Report Card | Fast Breaks| Photo Gallery Game 3 Recap: Lakers win behind Kobe's 36 Chris Mannix: Gasol, Odom playing soft Ian Thomsen: Donaghy casts a shadow Report Card | Fast Breaks| Photo Gallery Game 2 Recap: Celtics withstand Lakers' big rally Ian Thomsen: Don't count out Kobe yet Report Card | Fast Breaks| Photo Gallery Game 1 Recap: Pierce, Celtics rally past Lakers Ian Thomsen: Pierce's defining moment Report Card | Fast Breaks | Photo Gallery

Working from the definition of an excellent TV sports analyst as "someone you'd want to sit next to on a bar stool or a couch while you watched a big game,'' Jeff Van Gundy would rank no lower than No. 37 on your list. OK, wait, maybe No. 83. Would you believe No. 116?

That, anyway, is what you might have thought basing your decision on the Van Gundy most NBA fans knew from his years on the sideline as coach of the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets. That Van Gundy, assessed from afar, would have been as much fun to have on your couch as Tom Cruise was on Oprah's, only for reasons that were polar opposite.

Never mind crazed, manic or overly caffeinated; Van Gundy as coach looked glum, frazzled, even tortured. Tightly wound even among the worry worts, he worked with a constipated expression and dark semi-circles under his eyes as pronounced as the restricted-zone arcs under each basket. When a fellow's greatest moment of levity, in a highly visible career spanning 11 seasons, is riding stowaway on Alonzo Mourning's leg in the 1998 playoffs, you sense you're not dealing with someone Ralph Kramden would mistake for a laugh riot.

Van Gundy wouldn't have had it any other way, either. When he was coaching.

"I don't know how everybody else characterizes their job, but I don't ever come in saying my job is fun,'' Van Gundy told a Knicks reporter back in November 2001, a couple of weeks before he unexpectedly quit that alleged dream job. "My job is ultimately rewarding at times and ultimately disappointing at times. I don't sit there and say it's fun. I think everybody else has this picture of sports as fun.''

Compare that now to the Van Gundy working these NBA Finals as part of the ABC crew with Mike Breen and Mark Jackson. This Van Gundy is upbeat, self-deprecating, accessible, even goofy. He is, in a word, fun.

Earlier in this postseason, Breen was carrying the network water by reading a series promo. "I'm a big Lost fan,'' the play-by-play man said. Van Gundy blurted, "You are lost!''

"Good one,'' Breen said, mockingly.

There was the unfairness he observed during Game 1 on Thursday, that venerable Lakers consultant Tex Winter should look so much better at age 86 than he, Van Gundy, looks at 46. And early in Game 7 between Boston and Cleveland in the second round, Van Gundy was incredulous at how often, and how well, Paul Pierce had been running pick-and-roll plays the past two games.

"Frankly, I didn't know he was this efficient running the pick-and-roll,'' the former coach said. He waited a beat with a comic's timing, then added: "That's probably why I'm sitting down over here, watching the game.''

Most coaches-turned-broadcasters, you can close your eyes and picture what they must be like in a timeout huddle or a halftime locker room. Hubie Brown is the lecturer, the schoolmaster, imparting wisdom from a lifetime spent in gyms. Doug Collins is almost surgical in his analysis, opening his operating arena to some casual observers. You figure they coached the same way, only a little more blue. But Van Gundy? No way could he have been this wacky.

He attributes the difference in how he's perceived -- stressed grinder vs. loopy sidekick -- to the difference in the jobs. Then there's the fact that most fans know him in snapshots, rather than the long hours he spent behind the scenes with his players or even media that covered him on a daily basis.

"If they describe you as this obsessive, somber coach, that's who you become, no matter what your personality is like,'' Van Gundy said. "I never got into much trying to defuse that.''

Sometimes, though, even those on the scene with Van Gundy are surprised. In his first stab at broadcasting, back in 2002 when Marv Albert and Mike Fratello were loosening him up for TNT's audience, Van Gundy recalled an Indiana playoff game that he worked and a pre-telecast meeting with Pacers coach Isiah Thomas.

"So he comes in -- and I've never really talked to him, just hellos -- and now I'm sitting with him and he goes, 'You know what? I didn't know ... well ... uh ... I don't know how to say this,' '' Van Gundy told Dave D'Alessandro of the Newark Star-Ledger. "So I said, 'You didn't know I have a personality?' And I can see he's relieved and he goes, 'That's it!' ''

Said Breen, having fun himself: "I always thought that he was much more funny when he was coaching, and he's much more serious and more morose as a broadcaster. ... But I would vouch for what he has said about [how] he really doesn't judge what comes out of his mouth. Mark and I both feel that ESPN should have a reality series of just following Jeff around for a day and have his stream of consciousness brought to America.''