What Would You Talk About With Jeff Van Gundy in a Car For 17 Hours?
By Liam McKeone
Jeff Van Gundy was chosen to be one of the broadcasters let into the Orlando bubble that held the 2020 NBA playoffs. He lives in Houston and drove to Orlando for his months-long stay in a Disney hotel. He chatted with Zach Lowe on the Lowe Post podcast about the whole experience.
In the pod, Van Gundy revealed that he made the 17-hour drive from Houston to Orlando without stopping to sleep. Furthermore, he prefers complete and utter silence when he drives. No radio, no podcasts, nothin'. Just Van Gundy and his thoughts. Oh, and he drove back home that way too. He talks about it starting at the 1:30 mark of the podcast.
This is, of course, just a little bit insane. Driving 17 hours without stopping is an impressive achievement, don't get me wrong. But to do so in dead silence for its entirety outside of the occasional phone call? Maybe it's the fact that the early days of the pandemic forced many of us to stay at home with nothing but our thoughts for company. But I couldn't stand that.
Which brought me to wondering, if you or I were trapped in a car with Jeff Van Gundy for 17 freaking hours and he refused to allow any music, what would you talk about? I don't mind listening to Van Gundy talk shop about basketball on broadcasts for a few hours, but even a diehard basketball fan would get tired of it after hour, like, eight.
What else, then? I, for one, would be pretty interested in hearing Van Gundy debate the likelihood of intelligent life existing off this planet. Maybe dig into horoscopes and things of the like. He probably has a lot to say about my Pisces disposition.
Food for thought. Apparently that's the only thing Van Gundy has on his marathon drives.