The Pelicans had shown interest in Jeff Van Gundy for their vacant head coaching job and held a formal interview with him on Tuesday, according to Yahoo Sports.
The Pelicans have several candidates in mind to replace Monty Williams, who was fired May 12. The Pelicans interviewed former Suns coach Alvin Gentry last week.
The Pelicans also have interest in Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, whose job status is in jeopardy. Thibodeau could be traded now, but Sporting News' Sean Deveney reported the Pelicans may prefer to wait to see if the Bulls fire him rather than giving up an asset such as a first-rounder. Thibodeau is a protege of Van Gundy.
Van Gundy has a career record of 430-318 in 11 seasons with the Knicks and Rockets. He took the Knicks to the playoffs six times, but in three playoff appearances with Houston, he never got the Rockets out of the first round. He has not coached since being fired by the Rockets in 2007.
Van Gundy has been working for ESPN for the last seven-plus years, but the 53-year-old has shown interest in other NBA coaching jobs during that time. The Pelicans are coming off their first playoff appearance since becoming the Pelicans in 2013 and just the seventh time in the franchise's 13-year history.
New Orleans was swept by Golden State in the first round of the playoffs.